Chris Froome becomes latest Vuelta casualty after broken foot

Sport360 staff 16:30 03/09/2015
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  • Froome hasn't recovered from his collision.

    Tour de France winner Chris Froome has become the latest high-profile casualty in Spain’s Vuelta after withdrawing before the start of Thursday’s 12th stage due to a broken bone in his foot.

    — Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) September 3, 2015

    Froome’s hopes of becoming just the third man to win the Tour and the Vuelta in the same year were realistically ended on Wednesday as he injured his foot whilst crashing on the daunting mountainous 138km ride through Andorra and fell over seven minutes behind general classification leader Fabio Aru.

    The 30-year-old was hoping to emulate Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978) by completing the Tour-Vuelta double and was very much in contention before Wednesday’s stage, dubbed as one the hardest in the Vuelta’s 80-year history with four category one and a special category climb.

    Froome got off to the worst possible start, though, as a crash early in the day left him needing crutches to walk at the end of the stage.

    Froome’s withdrawal is the latest blow for the tour organisers in a race that has been mired by dangerous crashes and controversy.

    The team time trial on the first stage didn’t count towards the overall classification as it was deemed too dangerous.

    Italian Vincenzo Nibali, one of just six men to have won all three Grand Tours, was then disqualified on the second stage for being towed by his Astana team car.

    Belgian rider Kris Boeckmans remains in an induced coma after a serious crash on the eighth stage, which also forced general classification contenders Dan Martin and Tejay van Garderen to retire.

    – Vuelta: Mikel Landa lands eleventh stage in Spain
    – Vuelta: Boeckmans remains in induced coma
    – Vuelta: Jasper Stuyven takes stage eight victory
    – Going Out: Wheel away to glory with Spinneys 92

    On the same day, stage three winner Peter Sagan was run over by an auxiliary motorcycle forcing him to withdraw and bringing a stinging response from his Tinkoff-Saxo team.

    Tinkoff-Saxo were further incensed when another one of their riders, Sergio Paulinho, was also forced to retire after being hit by a TV motorcycle on Wednesday.

    Oleg Tinkoff, the Russian entrepreneur who owns the team, has even threatened to withdraw from the race in protest at the safety provided to riders by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) who run the event. 

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