After 10 stages of the 2014 Tour de France, crashes have taken out 18 riders, including some of the favourites for both the general and sprinters’ classification.
Riders like 25-time stage winner Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome (Team Sky), and five-time Grand Tour winner, including two time Tour de France victor, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
With these three riders all making early exits, how will they get something out of their cycling season and all the winter training they did?
The answer is obviously the Vuelta a Espana.
The Vuelta is normally a good preparation ground for the World Championships, plus a chance for riders who either missed the Tour de France or want to ride another Grand Tour.
Last year’s Vuelta saw 41-year-old Chris Horner the victor. Absolutely no disrespect to the man, but in the same for, Horner would never have won last year’s Tour, which shows the talent pool is vastly different between the Tour and the Vuelta.
With riders like Froome, Contador, Cavendish and even Andy Schleck (Trek) out of the Tour, there is a massive chance of them lining up in the final Grand Tour of the season to reconfirm their status in the cycling world by getting some results for the season.
The only roadblock for the riders who crashed will be their injuries not healing in time. For Froome and Cavendish this should be no problem, as their injuries were not so severe, Contador’s fractured tibia could be a problem.
If these riders line up at the Vuelta, it will add a bit more spice to the event and make it much more than just the World Championship preparation race.
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Tadej Pogacar has won a drama-packed Tour of Flanders, winning in a breakaway with Matieu van der Poel second, Mads Pedersen third and Wout…
Women are not allowed to compete in the Tour de France. However you choose to re-read that sentence, the fact remains: the most famous…
The jam-packed month-by-month quiz full of 2022 sports trivia!
Australian Grace Brown has won silver in the women's time trial, the first event at the world road cycling championships.
