The Colombian struggled throughout Monday’s stage to La Farrapona and ultimately lost over 15 minutes, dropping from 6th to 16th overall in the process. In a statement released by his team, Uran said that his condition had deteriorated during Tuesday’s rest day and he would be unable to continue.
"We were hoping that the rest day could help, but in the last 24 hours the situation has become even worse," Uran said. "You can't race in these conditions. I'm really disappointed but this really is the wisest decision."
Uran is planning to return to action in time to play a part in Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s defence of their world team time trial title in Ponferrada on September 21, although he will travel to Belgium next week for further assessment from his team’s medical staff before a final decision on his participation is made.
“The team and I have agreed that I'll be in Belgium next week to get a better picture of the nature of this problem," Uran said. "The objective is to try to recover in time for the World Championships and be useful to the team for the World Championship TTT that will open the rainbow series.”
Uran had struggled to follow the accelerations on the summit finishes in the opening two weeks of the Vuelta, but he did deliver a strong showing in the Borja time trial on stage 10, finishing in second place, just 15 seconds down on his teammate Tony Martin.
“Fundamentally I'm in good shape so I'd really like to be there,” Uran said of the team time trial world championships. “Of course, my participation will depend on what the test results say these next few days. The team and I don't want to take any risks at the end of the season if the bronchial problems should continue."
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The Vuelta resumes on Wednesday with a 190-kilometre stage from Ortigueira to A Coruña.
