Primoz Roglic wounded in ridiculous crash in final 150m as Mads Pedersen wins Stage 16 at La Vuelta

Updated 06/09/2022 at 17:31 GMT

What have you done, Primoz? The three-time defending champion looked set to chisel away at Remco Evenepoel’s lead, only to concoct the most bizarre crash in the closing metres to undo his good work. Roglic remounted to cross the line, bloodied and bruised, before slumping to the tarmac in disbelief, an eight-second gain his only reward. Mads Pedersen took his second win of the race.

‘Down goes Roglic!’ – Watch extraordinary finish to Stage 16

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) went down in an inexplicable crash just 150 metres from the finish to dampen his own devastating attack as Stage 16 belatedly sparked into life at La Vuelta.

The Slovenian blew the peloton apart when he launched inside the final 3km as the race headed up a steep ramp into the town of Tomares, leading a select of group of five riders into the home straight as he sought to gain time on the underfire Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl).

And he was set to take a big chunk as Evenepoel nursed a mechanical down the road – the Belgian only spared a huge loss of time due to the 3km safety net – only to somehow contrive to crash in the sprint tear-up after an apparent clash of handlebars with Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious).

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Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) emerged out of the carnage to take victory ahead of Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) and Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe), with Wright setting for another fourth place.

But the day was all about Roglic and his latest episode of rotten luck. For all his pain, Roglic made just an eight-second gain on Evenepoel – who crossed the line over three minutes down but was awarded the same time as the chasers.

Stage 16 as it happened: Chaos as Roglic crashes, Evenepoel punctures and Pedersen doubles up

Evenepoel: I had a puncture

Evenepoel was quick to check on the health of his big rival, who was slumped against the barriers, in a daze and bleeding from numerous wounds.

“I really hope he’s okay and that he can continue the race,” Evenepoel said later. “We all know that Primoz is explosive so a final like this was really made for him. That makes it even more of a pity for him that he crashed. You never want somebody to crash – I hope he’s okay.”

Asked about the cause of his mechanical issue in the moments directly after Roglic’s big attack, the 22-year-old admitted he was under serious pressure, but claimed to have picked up a puncture in his rear wheel.

“I wasn’t in the best position. I was a little bit scared, if I’m honest, in the last four or five kilometres. I lost some positions and I wanted to move up on the steep bump, but my rear wheel just went off. It felt like I had a flat tyre. So, I’m happy that the 3km rule exists otherwise I would have lost a lot of time today.”

Did Evenepoel really have a puncture?

Evenepoel’s lead over Roglic came down eight seconds to 1’26” in the general classification with Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) retaining his third place at 2’01” after he safely finished in the large chase group.

Victory on the day went to Pedersen, the green jersey, who dug deep to follow Roglic’s attack before proving himself to be the fastest finisher of the select five-man lead group. As the road flattened out on the home straight, the Dane powered clear with Ackermann and Van Poppel in his wake – with Roglic clipping Wright as he buried himself to stay in contention.

Asked after his second win of the race whether he had expected Roglic to attack on the final ramp, Pedersen said: “Not really. It was a really smart move – everyone was on the limit. Ackermann was straight on his wheel, really good job. I had to use a lot of energy to close him.”

Pedersen, who extended his lead in the green jersey standings to a whopping 220 points over Wright, praised the Slovenian triple champion for his attack and wished him well: “It was a really good move. It’s a pity that he crashed. He hasn’t been lucky this year – and I hope it’s not too bad so he can keep on contending for the victory in this Vuelta.”

The 26-year-old former world champion said he found extra motivation to win following the birth of a team-mate’s new child on Monday’s rest day. “I promised [Alex] Kirsch – who got a daughter yesterday – that I’d get the win because he wasn’t there for the birth,” Pedersen said. “The whole team worked really hard to give him this second present. This win is for Alex, his wife and new kid.”

The dramatic final five minutes of Stage 16 were out of sync with the preceding four and a half hours, where very little had happened save for a breakaway that ensured 175 new trees would be planted in the forest fire-hit Sierra Bermeja.

This followed a pre-race pledge made by the Spanish veteran Luis Angel Mate of Euskaltel-Euskadi, who promised to plant a sapling for every kilometre he spent in breakaways during his 11th Vuelta. The 38-year-old kicked clear shortly after the start of the 189km stage with compatriot Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH).

Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) and Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi) in the breakaway during Stage 16 of La Vuelta 2022

Image credit: Getty Images

In temperatures of over 30 degrees and under a cloudless blue sky, the breakaway duo built up a maximum lead of around four minutes – but were kept on a tight leash from Pedersen’s Trek-Segafredo team along with the Cofidis team of Bryan Coquard.

If the Frenchman Coquard was unable to close down Roglic’s attack once push came to shove, Pedersen repaid his team-mates’ efforts with a clinical turn of pace to deny the impressive Ackermann, who had been first to latch on to Roglic in the finale.

The breakaway duo had been swept up with 14km remaining, just ahead of a small hill that softened the legs and paved the way for Jumbo-Visma’s latest attempt to end Evenepoel’s long reign in red. A combination of the Belgian’s puncture and Roglic’s crash made for a chaotic and confusing end to an otherwise rudimentary day in the saddle.

Time will tell whether Roglic’s latest spill has called time on his bid to win a fourth consecutive Vuelta – even if he edged that little bit closer to Evenepoel’s lead in the process.

The race continues on Wednesday with the lumpy 160km Stage 17 from Aracena to the Monasterio de Tendudia, where a Cat. 2 punchy uphill finish will no doubt deliver more drama in this intriguing and baffling battle for red.