Another significant withdrawal in the Vuelta a España. Belgian Wout van Aert (Team Visma/Lease a Bike), leader in the points and mountain classifications, suffered a serious fall in the 16th stage and was forced to withdraw.
It was about 47 kilometers from the finish line, after a breakaway, that Van Aert, who had already fallen once on Tuesday, slipped on the wet surface and slid on the asphalt, ending up in the roadside ditch. Television footage showed that his knee was quite badly injured.
Van Aert then had to abandon the Vuelta while leading in the points classification (the green jersey), with 109 points more than the second place, and in the mountain classification (the blue and white polka dot jersey), tied on points with the runner-up.
Additionally, he had already won three stages: he started with a victory in the third stage, at the farewell to Portugal, then won the seventh stage, between Archidona and Córdoba, and completed the “hat-trick” in the tenth stage, which linked Ponteareas to Baiona.