Wout van Aert has abandoned the Vuelta a España after he crashed on the descent of the Collada Llomena on stage 16 to Lagos de Covadonga.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider injured his left knee when he crashed with a shade over 50km remaining, having led over the first two climbs of the stage as part of the day’s early break.
Van Aert attempted to rejoin the race after receiving a replacement bike, but he was unable to pedal and in clear discomfort. He stopped again after a few hundred metres, climbing into the Visma team car.
Van Aert came down on a sharp left-hand bend after fellow escapee Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla) had crashed in front of him. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) also went down behind Van Aert but only the Visma rider appeared to suffer serious injuries.
"Wout was taken to hospital by ambulance. There he will undergo examinations," Sports Director Grischa Niermann said in a team social post. "Of course we are so sad seeing him leave the Vuelta in this manner. Luck has not been on our side this season. We all feel for him."
The team later added in a medical update that Van Aert had not suffered any fractures as a result of the crash.
"The three-time stage winner had to withdraw due to severe knee pain caused by a deep wound," said the team in the follow-up medical report released late on Tuesday. "That wound requires intensive care. Wout will travel back to Belgium to continue his recovery."
Van Aert had also crashed at the start of stage 16 as the break was forming but without any serious effect.
The Belgian was leading both the points and king of the mountains classifications at this Vuelta after a string of sparkling performances over the first two weeks that saw him pick up a hat-trick of stage wins.
He is the second Visma-Lease a Bike rider to crash out of the 2024 Vuelta. On stage 2 Dylan van Baarle became the first abandon of the race when he fell heavily, fracturing his hip.
It remains to be seen if Van Aert will recover in time to line out for the Belgian team at the World Championships road race in Zurich on September 29. He was also due to line out at the European Championships on home roads in Hasselt.
Van Aert’s original plans for the 2024 season were ruined by a heavy crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen that left him with a broken collarbone and forced him out of the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and a planned Giro d’Italia debut.
He returned to action in time to line out at the Tour de France in support of Jonas Vingegaard and he claimed a bronze medal in the time trial at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
First used in 2021 in the Vuelta a España as a warm-up climb for Lagos de Covadonga, that year the descent of the Collada Llomena acquired a reputation for being extremely technical. That year Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), riding at the time for Movistar, suffered a major crash on the same downhill where Van Aert fell and was also forced to abandon as a result of his injuries.
After Van Baarle's abandon and Cian Uijtdebroeks quitting with COVID-19, Van Aert's exit from the race leaves Visma-Lease a Bike with just five riders left in the race. It has also unexpectedly put Australia's Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) into the green jersey as Van Aert had looked to have the points classification sewn up with a lead of more than 100 points at the start of the stage.
"To be clear not the way we wanted it," said Alpecin-Deceuninck of the green jersey in a statement on social media. "Above all, we wish Wout a speedy recovery."
