The strain shows on the face of Nairo Quintana after his crash - in the video below - cost him the race lead and any chance of winning the Vuelta overall (Photo: Sirotti)
Colombian superstar and reigning Giro d'Italia champion, Nairo Quintana had his hopes of a double Grand Tour ended in five seconds of madness on today’s stage 10 time trial.
Resplendent in the race leader's red jersey - and looking very good to hold onto it before the real climbing begins; the Movistar man hit the deck on a relatively straight-forward descent.
He would lose 4:07 to the stage winner Tony Martin and now sits 11th at 3:25.
A quick adjustment of his overshoe suggested everything was alright as he approached a bend sweeping to the right and leaned into it.
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However, he made a mess of his approach and, travelling at speed, he overshot the bend, going off road and into a barrier before hitting the deck hard; his body and bike flying in opposite directions.
“I’m screwed,” he offered afterwards.
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“Just before the corner I was tightening up my shoe, but I don’t think that was really the problem.
“What happened was I over-braked, it wasn’t enough, and I hit the ground. Fortunately I wasn’t too badly hurt, my left knee came off the worst, and I’ve got bruises all over, but cycling is like that.
“I’ve lost some time, but now I will try and help Alejandro [Valverde] and go for the podium.”
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