Watch moment Ángel Madrazo almost denied stage victory when hit by his own team car at Vuelta a España 2019
The Spaniard put in a memorable ride to take the day, but his hopes were almost dashed
Footage from stage five of the Vuelta a España shows the moment the stage winner was almost derailed when he was hit by his own team car.
Ángel Madrazo was the star rider on the first mountain test of the race to Alto de Javalambre as he persisted despite being dropped multiple times, eventually winning the day.
But misfortune struck the Burgos-BH rider earlier in the stage, when he was hit by the car.
>>> Five talking points from stage five of the Vuelta a España 2019
Madrazo, wearing the King of the Mountain leader’s jersey, was part of a three-rider breakaway that went away in the opening 20km, which also consisted of his team-mate Jetse Bol and José Herrada (Cofidis).
The trio held a 10-minute advantage over the peloton late into the stage and it became clear that the stage would be decided amongst the breakaway.
But late in the stage, Bol was taking a feed from the Burgos car and the driver didn’t see Madrazo moving across the road.
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The car clipped Madrazo’s back wheel, almost knocking him off and sending him veering.
Madrazo then collided with Herrada, forcing the Cofidis rider off the road.
Luckily the incident had no impact on the result, and the three riders went to the line together.
Madrazo started to struggle 7km from the summit of the climb, as Herrada and Bol began to ride away.
But he would not give in and came back to the pair before being dropped again.
Then in the final kilometre, Madrazo rejoined Bol and Herrada and immediately hit the front to support his team-mate, but remarkably he had the strength to keep riding, eventually pulling clear of Herrada to take victory.
Bol then rode away from Herrada, making it a Burgos one-two.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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