Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) was among a host of overall contenders who were unable to stay upright after a high-speed crash in the closing meters of stage seven of the Vuelta a España. Michal Golas (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) collided, sending both tumbling to the ground and causing a massive pileup behind. Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) were among the other contenders to hit the deck.
In one of the Spanish Grand Tour’s few flat stages, many sprinters were queued up for the finale, while Nibali and the favorites for the overall just wanted to stay out of trouble. It is the second day in a row that the finish hasn’t gone the Italian leader’s way, after he missed a chance to gain bonus seconds because of team miscommunication yesterday.
“It was very dangerous in the finale, and I wanted to keep my position at the front of the bunch to avoid the danger,” Nibali commented after the stage. “The group was moving at high speed, and a crash will bring down so many riders.”
When Farrar went down, riders locked up brakes and moved to the right of the road, but the momentum of riders already on the ground carried them the same direction. The result was a pileup at the barrier, one that Nibali and many others could not escape. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) flipped over his handlebars, and several riders from Lampre-ISD and Movistar went down, along with Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto).
“I threw my bike to the right, against the barriers and then I went down. I couldn’t do anything. It was an unavoidable accident that could have ended up much worse,” Nibali added.
The team is reporting injuries to Nibali’s hip, buttock, and shoulder blade, but confirms that the shoulder blade issue is not serious. “Of more concern are the big bruises on the hip and buttock,” explained Liquigas-Cannondale team doctor Roberto Corsetti. “Right now, we’re using ice and an anti-inflammatory. We will monitor the injury constantly and in the days ahead, we will better understand the magnitude of the injury.”
Nibali has largely avoided bad luck in his recent run of excellent results at Grand Tours. The returning champion at the Vuelta will have a hard time recuperating during tomorrow’s stage, a severely undulating 177-kilometer ride from Talavera de la Reina to San Lorenzo de el Escorial.