“We’re actually going to overlook him,” was how Visma-Lease a Bike teammate and Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss described how the lack of co-leader Wout van Aert would have an effect on the Dutch crew within the Spanish Grand Tour.
Before crashing out late on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España on Tuesday, Van Aert had been a serious participant within the race. Three stage victories, a two-day spell in la roja, and holding a joint lead of the mountains and factors classifications when he needed to stop have been all already within the Belgian star’s palmares.
But that seemingly continuous succession of triumphs and leads got here to an abrupt halt on the descent of the Collada Llomera on Tuesday, when a nasty crash on a sweeping left-hand bend ripped via the break of the day and noticed Van Aert and two different riders, Felix Engelhart (Jayco-AIUIa) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates), all hit the deck.
The Mexican and German got here via kind of unscathed, however when Van Aert tried to proceed, his deep proper knee harm made it not possible.
“We’re actually going to overlook him, it was fairly arduous seeing him there on the facet of the highway, already stopped with the automotive,” Kuss stated on the stage 17 begin.
“Yesterday [Tuesday] we simply needed to attempt to be focussed, end the stage as finest as we may. But in the present day you seen [his absence] within the crew bus a bit extra.”
Kuss himself was instrumental in Van Aert’s second stage win on the Vuelta at Cordoba, when the North American rode himself into the bottom pulling again late attacker Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates). But because the Colorado racer noticed, it was Van Aert himself who made the distinction every time.
“He’s irreplaceable, specifically with what he’s achieved within the race and what there was left for him to go for.
“He gave the crew a very good give attention to just about each stage. So with out him that adjustments issues. But we’ll do our greatest with the fellows we now have left.”
In the 2021 Vuelta when the peloton tackled the the identical descent in a lot heavier rainfall than Tuesday, there have been additionally a welter of fallers. Kuss – who went on to complete second that day at Lagos de Covadonga behind then-teammate Primoz Roglič – recalled the occasion.
“I bear in mind I had already handed via the a part of the descent when the falls occurred. In the peloton, we have been going actually cautiously down the entire of it. But for certain the break [with Van Aert in the 2024 Vuelta] had a bit extra cause to race tougher.”
Rather than begin a blame sport, Kuss argued that on this event no less than the crash was “nobody’s fault or something, simply in these sorts of roads there are all the time harmful circumstances. It’s all the time a bit moist, a bit dry and a bit in between. You by no means know whenever you would possibly slide.”
Twelfth total after an incident-free stage 17, Kuss stated that he had no criticisms of the Vuelta organiser’s system for indicating harmful and/or technical segments of the levels.
“In numerous these races, the signalling has been actually good. It all the time actually helps, specifically on these difficult roads which are attention-grabbing and good to race on, however the place you must have the appropriate warnings and stuff in place.
“And I feel the organisation does a great job with that right here and it’s arduous to say however you possibly can’t mark each nook. In the top generally you simply need to be fortunate and be in the appropriate place on the proper time.”
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