Twitter reacts to Steven Kruijswijk’s bollard crash at the Vuelta a España

Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) saw his Vuelta a España challenge come to a painful and avoidable end on stage five when he crashed into a pole on the side of the road and landed heavily on his collarbone.

The Dutchman didn't spot the pole, which was about half a metre in from the left side of the road within the final three kilometres. He hit it while in a group of riders, bringing down and Ag2r La Mondiale man with him, but it was Kruijswijk who came off worse with a broken left collarbone.

The CPA called for more action to be taken to remove dangerous obstacles in the final kilometres of races, with the pole not even clearly marked. Geraint Thomas agreed and called on the UCI to take measures.

Bram Tankink reveals how the pole in question would be invisible to the upcoming peloton, especially for a rider in the middle of the bunch like Kruijswijk.

Koen de Kort was even at the head of a group and didn't see the offending bollard.

Peter Stetina suffered horrific leg injuries when he crashed into bollards at the end of a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country last season.

Organisers Unipublic apologised for the incident, but many have asked how such an obstacle could have been missed in the first place.