Another blow to Jumbo-Visma as Kruijswijk abandons with suspected broken collarbone
Another blow to Jumbo-Visma as Kruijswijk abandons with suspected broken collarbone
Steven Kruijskwijk was removed from the course about 60 kilometres from the finish of stage 15 of the Tour de France after a high speed crash, as the day went from bad to worse for Jumbo-Visma.
Tough day for Jumbo-Visma at Tour de France: Hours after Primoz Roglic did not start Stage 15 due to injuries, teammate Steven Kruijswijk abandons following a crash. GC leader Jonas Vingegaard loses two key mountain domestiques before race has reached Pyrenees. #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/PyZ6zF9rYc
— Neal Rogers(@nealrogers) July 17, 2022
With two riders still up the road, Kruijswijk was caught up in a crash that also brought down Martijn Tusveld (DSM), Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) and Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert, who’d inexplicably got up the road early on before dropping back to the peloton. It was immediately pretty clear from Kruijswijk’s body language that his right collarbone was a problem, and the chances of the climbing talent getting back on his bike were next to none as he waved off the green jersey.
This latest blow comes just hours after Primož Roglič – a key component in Jonas Vingegaard’s seizure of the yellow jersey on Wednesday – withdrew from the race to allow his own injuries to recover.
The nerves were rampant in the kilometres that followed Kruijswijk’s heavy crash. Moments after cameras showed the Dutchman being loaded into an ambulance to friendly applause from bystanders, Tiesj Benoot and Jonas Vingegaard also hit the deck in the peloton. The dirtied yellow jersey got up pretty quickly and his domestique was back underway soon after, albeit looking rather uncomfortable.
— Tour de France
@JumboVismaRoad‘s troubles continue as
Jonas Vingegaard and
@TiesjBenoot fall, they both set off again.
Les malheurs de la @JumboVismaRoad continuent ! C’est maintenant(@LeTour) July 17, 2022
Vingegaard is now down to five teammates, just like Pogačar, with a week left of the Tour.
Post-stage update:
Vingegaard told media after the stage that he’s relatively unscathed, with just some scrapes to his left side. Caught up in the same incident, Benoot is feeling slightly heavier effects, but suffered no fractures.
“I’ve felt better,” Benoot told media. “But I think I was a bit lucky. I fell quite hard and unexpectedly. I was tapped and could not keep my bike upright, often those are serious falls.
“My nose is a bit thick and I have some scrapes all over, especially on my right side. After the fall I was also a bit nauseous. It’s certainly not ideal, but it really sucks. Jonas was sitting in my wheel, when I sat up I saw him standing next to me. Fortunately, I learned that it was not too bad for him.”
There’s been no update to Kruijswijk’s condition just yet.
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