The seventh stage of the Vuelta a España brought a very tough moment for the British team INEOS Grenadiers. First, it was Thymen Arensman who suffered a serious crash just five kilometers from the finish line and had to abandon the race. Furthermore, the team’s main leader, Geraint Thomas, lost 24 seconds in the general classification when he crossed the finish line.
INEOS Grenadiers’ cyclists were at the back of the peloton at the time of the accident. At that moment, Geraint Thomas was a few meters behind his teammate Thymen Arensman and managed to swerve. However, the footage shows that the British rider also went down.
After a few seconds, Thomas gets up to chase the peloton, but his teammates are also affected by the crash. The peloton was moving at a high speed and didn’t wait for anyone, so Geraint Thomas ends up losing 24 seconds in the general classification.
This puts him 5 minutes and 21 seconds behind the overall classification leader, Lenny Martinez, and 2 minutes and 33 seconds behind Remco Evenepoel.
Arensman Update
The report released by the INEOS team late on Friday is encouraging regarding Thymen Arensman’s potentially serious injury. No serious injury has been diagnosed. However, the athlete continues to be under observation to investigate a possible collarbone fracture.