Additional exams have revealed that Primož Roglič (Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) suffered a fracture to his decrease again within the crash that pressured him out of the 2024 Tour de France.
Roglič introduced the information late on Tuesday evening by his Instagram, having been in restoration since abandoning the Tour forward of stage 13. This plunges any participation on the Vuelta a España into doubt, which begins on August 17.
“Life isn’t the best typically, huh?” mentioned Roglič. “Additional examinations after the [Tour de France] crash confirmed a nondisplaced lwk3 fracture of processus transversus within the decrease again so final week I used to be recovering at Purple Bull Athlete Efficiency Middle, the place they have been taking one of the best care of me…
“I’m slowly getting again on the bike and taking my time to recuperate and can see the place this takes us… On this time I realised, as soon as once more, that I’ve one of the best followers On this planet. Thanks.”
Roglič’s crash throughout stage 12 to Villeneuve-sur-Lot got here on an innocuous run-in to a dash end, when a dividing piece of street furnishings made Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) come down, sending him into the opposite aspect of the peloton and inflicting a domino impact of riders braking and swerving to keep away from the crash.
The Slovenian wasn’t as fortunate as most who averted the incident, coming down onerous at excessive velocity. Though his accidents have been unseen, it grew to become clear Roglič was critically damage as his Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates opted to softly journey to the end, as a substitute of chasing onerous to deliver again the two:27 deficit.
Because the digicam lastly bought a view of his proper aspect, Roglič had scuffs to his helmet and rips on the appropriate shoulder of his jersey, nonetheless, the again damage is worse than the preliminary evaluation appeared.
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Roglič got here into stage 12 in fourth on GC, simply 2:15 away from eventual winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Crew Emirates) and one minute behind former teammate Jonas VIngegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in third. However the crash ruined any likelihood for a showdown between the ‘massive 4’, which additionally consists of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), within the ultimate 9 phases.
As a three-time winner of the Vuelta a España, Roglič was anticipated to start out the Spanish Grand Tour once more in response to experiences from Vuelta director Javier Guillén. Nevertheless, Roglič’s crew boss Ralph Denk denounced these rumours, admitting nothing was confirmed because the Slovenian recovers.
“The director is aware of greater than me. Primož is presently solely coaching a bit on the indoor coach, I do not suppose it is clear but whether or not he’ll take part within the Vuelta,” mentioned Denk on the Inside Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe podcast. “I am positive the director want to have him at the beginning, however I am unable to verify that but.”
If Roglič was to return and win a fourth Vuelta together with his new crew, it might put him equal on probably the most wins on the Spanish Grand Tour with Roberto Heras.
