Adam Yates has been cleared to continue the Vuelta a España after a crash on stage 13 that brought down a number of his Ineos team-mates as well as Jumbo-Visma's Primož Roglič and his lieutenants.
Nearing the closing 50km on a sweeping bend during a flat section of the Alto de San Jerónimo climb, a rider slid out and caused a pile-up behind.
Yates sustained a left calf and shin contusion in the incident, while team-mate Dylan van Baarle underwent a CT scan after the stage on his left hip and thigh, which showed no fractures. Domestiques Salvatore Puccio and Pavel Sivakov also suffered cuts, yet all riders were cleared to continue with stage 13 after a medical assessment the morning before the stage.
Behind the Ineos riders in the crash were Jumbo-Visma, with their leader Roglič caught up in another crash, falls starting to define his second week of this Spanish Grand Tour nearly as much as his imperious-looking GC form.
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“Primož and Lennard Hofstede are okay," sports director Grischa Niermann said, reported by Wielerflits.
"Steven Kruijswijk has a few scrapes. There was little to do today, we fell over the men from the Ineos Grenadiers. Fortunately, we made it through and we can continue our way in this Vuelta.”
Giving insight into the crash after the stage was Jumbo-Visma's Koen Bouwman, who along with his team-mates is getting used to seeing their team leader hit the deck this race.
“We were driving 500 meters into a descent when almost our entire team fell," he said after the finish. "Spain is characterised by slippery roads and I think there was some oil on the road. That was annoying, but luckily we returned with six men before the real descent started. Primož and Steven fell pretty hard, but they're okay. In the end, the positive thing is that we didn't lose any time."
