Defending champion Primoz Roglic’s bid for a fourth successive Vuelta a Espana title is over after he was forced to pull out following a heavy crash.
The Slovenian came off his bike at the end of stage 16 on Tuesday as he tried to make up time on overall leader Remco Evenepoel.
Team Jumbo-Visma said on Wednesday the 32-year-old was unable to continue.
“Get well soon, champion! Thank you for all the beautiful moments in this Vuelta,” his team posted on Twitter.
“You had ambitious plans for the final days, but sadly it isn’t meant to be.”
Roglic trailed Belgium’s Evenepoel, of Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl, by one minute 26 seconds after making up eight seconds on stage 16, despite his crash just 100 metres from the line.
With Evenepoel stranded after suffering a puncture in the final three kilometres of the 189km stage, the Slovenian split the race on a short climb leading towards the finish in Tomares.
He was overtaken in a sprint finish by eventual stage winner Mads Pedersen, but then went down heavily after touching handlebars with Britain’s Bahrain-Victorious rider Fred Wright.
Roglic managed to get back on his bike to finish, but suffered cuts and grazing down his right side. He was well-placed to attack with key mountain stages to come in the third and final week of the Grand Tour.
Spain’s Movistar rider Enric Mas moves up to second place overall, two minutes and one second behind Evenepoel.