Froome Withdraws from Vuelta
Chris Froome of Team Sky has withdrawn from the Vuelta a Espana due to a broken bone in his right foot. Froome broke his navicular bone, which sits between the heel bone and metatarsals in the foot. Froome crashed into a stone wall in the first three kilometers of Stage 11 on Wednesday. Froome stayed in the race and members of this team helped him to the finish line over a difficult route with 6 categorized climbs. Froome finished the stage over five minutes behind the stage winner Mikel Landa (Astana Pro Team) and seven minutes behind the General Classification leader, Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team). This injury will probably end Froome’s 2015 season.
In mid-August, many pro cycling fans were anticipating a competitive Vuelta. Most of the top contenders from the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France would be riding in the Vuelta, except for Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), who rode in both the Giro and the Tour. So far in the Vuelta, a crash in Stage 8 forced the withdrawal of Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) was disqualified for being towed by a team support car. Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Soudal) is in an induced coma recovering from his injuries suffered in that same stage. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) withdrew from the Vuelta after suffering burn injuries from a collision with a race motorcycle also in Stage 8. Now, there are 4 pre-race favorites still riding in the Vuelta; Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, Team Movistar, Aru Fabio (Astana Pro Team) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Team Katusha) along with Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) who as a dark horse contender has a chance to win the Vuelta if he can remain close to the top of the GC standings by the Time Trial stage.
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