Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) has been forced to abandon the 2024 Vuelta a España after a crash on the descent of Collada Llomena in Tuesday’s Stage 16. Van Aert was leading the Points Classification and the Mountains Classification and had also suffered an earlier crash during today’s stage but was able to continue. After the crash on the descent, his knee was bloody, but he got a bike exchange and tried to pedal on.
But only about a minute back on the bike, Van Aert unclipped to pull over to the side of the road. Sitting in the back of his team car, he looked absolutely crushed. His body had endured too much to continue. Christian Vande Velde, cycling analyst for Peacock Sports, noted that often, adrenaline can make you feel like you’re okay, but then, as you settle down a bit, you realize how much pain you’re in.
Visma-Lease a Bike posted to social media shortly after Van Aert pulled off the road, “It’s with a heavy heart we can confirm that Wout van Aert has abandoned the Vuelta a España following a crash during Stage 16.”
“Wout was taken to hospital by ambulance. There he will undergo examinations. 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,” said Sports Director Grischa Niermann.
Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) now leads the points jersey, and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) takes over as the leader of the mountains classification.
Stage 16 was finally won by Marc Soler of UAE Team Emirates from the breakaway as Primož Roglič of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe gained 58 seconds on race leader Ben O’Connor of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. O’Connor now only has a lead of five seconds over Roglič.
Van Aert had won three stages of this year’s Vuelta and was clearly having fun. In recent interviews, he talked about how he finally felt like himself again and saw what was possible.
After his Stage 10 win, he said, “It’s not too often that I can win when my family visits me on a race, so it makes it extra special and nice.” He went on to explain how he pulled it off, saying, “It was my aim to be in the breakaway, but I had a hard time on the first climb. I almost gave up, but I gave it one more try just before the top. I think it worked in my favor because, in the finale, the climbers in my group didn’t have fresh legs, and that’s how I won.”
Van Aert has had a seemingly endless string of bad luck. He initially planned to race the Giro d’Italia in May but was taken out by a high-speed crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen, where he fractured his collarbone and ribs in March. So, he was unable to race the Spring Classics and the Girod’Italia. Time will tell if he’ll be healed in time to race the UCI World Championships at the end of the month.
