{"id":133586,"date":"2025-09-10T11:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T11:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/133586\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T11:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T11:17:10","slug":"it-could-have-been-a-bigger-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/133586\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It Could Have Been a Bigger Tragedy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visma ‘Dream Team’ down to six before closing red jersey deciders: ‘We have to be ready for everything.’<\/p>\n

\"Javier<\/p>\n

Romo started but soon abandoned Tuesday’s stage at the Vuelta. (Photo: Movistar\/Special to Velo)<\/p>\n

Updated September 9, 2025 09:39AM<\/p>\n

UPDATED: Movistar\u2019s Javier Romo \u2014 who crashed heavily Sunday after a protester<\/a> provoked a crash \u2014 lined up for Tuesday\u2019s stage with heavy bandages.<\/p>\n

Romo started but was soon forced to quit, Movistar officials confirmed.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media before the start, the Spanish rider voiced his frustration with the growing tension at the Vuelta.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t enjoy the rest day yesterday and I could not even go for a spin. Well-f*cked,\u201d said Romo at the start Tuesday. \u201cI\u2019m doing my job. We\u2019re at a sporting event, and I think that\u2019s what should be shown. We\u2019re cyclists who train every day and lead a Spartan life, an example for young people, and [the protesters] are managing to show something else, instead of what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have been a bigger tragedy after crashing at 50kph,\u201d Romo said. \u201cLuckily, I only have bruises and some cuts, although with a feeling of rage. I\u2019ll get back on the bike and continue with my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romo is the first rider to be forced out of the Vuelta due to injuries caused by the ongoing protests that have engulfed the race since it hit Spanish roads on stage 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone tripped and couldn\u2019t do as much damage as he wanted,\u201d Romo told AS, referring to the protester Sunday. \u201cI was involved and tried to warn my teammates behind me, and I crossed my wheel with those in front, and fell. I\u2019m not one to judge. They\u2019ve screwed up La Vuelta for me, that\u2019s obvious, and I don\u2019t think I\u2019m the one who has to pay for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) also did not start Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Campenaerts out
\n\"Campenaerts\"Campenaerts, shown here at the Tour de France, is out of the Vuelta. (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Jonas Vingegaard<\/a> will face the decisive final week of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a> campaign undermanned after key lieutenant Victor Campenaerts<\/a> abandoned the race ahead of Tuesday\u2019s stage 16 due to illness.<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike is now reduced to six riders after earlier losing Axel Zingle in the first week, leaving Vingegaard\u2019s flank open to attack going into the Vuelta\u2019s decisive final week.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, Victor Campenaerts will not start stage 16 of La Vuelta today after falling ill,\u201d the Dutch squad confirmed via social media<\/a>. \u201cFollowing consultation with the medical team, it was decided that he is not fit to race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Details of his condition were not released by the team.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big loss for the Dane as Campernaets is an essential motor in the Visma wheelhouse, especially ahead of Tuesday\u2019s rollercoaster stage laden with potential traps across Galicia.<\/p>\n

With just six days of racing left, red jersey rivals UAE Team Emirates-XRG remains at full strength in support of Jo\u00e3o Almeida, who sits locked in a tight GC battle just 48 seconds back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very disappointed not to be able to help Jonas bring the red jersey to Madrid,\u201d Campenaerts said. \u201cBefore I fell ill, I was feeling really good and was able to do my job for the team. I\u2019ll be cheering for Jonas and the guys from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss of the Belgian bulldog leaves Visma further weakened as the Vuelta heads into the most decisive stages.<\/p>\n

Two more knee-busting summit finishes are lined up on Wednesday and Saturday, where Almeida and UAE are expected to try to turn the screws to pry away the red jersey before the race ends Sunday in Madrid.<\/p>\n

Kuss braces for fireworks to open week 3
\n\"Visma\"Visma down to six riders after Campenaerts did not start. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Sepp Kuss<\/a> said Visma\u2019s guard will be up going into the final week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the start of the third week. So, after the rest day, you never know how everyone\u2019s going,\u201d Kuss said Tuesday at the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we did this stage in the past, it was the 20th stage, so everybody was really tired and there were huge, huge differences,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cIt\u2019s a stage where you have to be really careful on. There are a lot of points where someone can attack and make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuss cautioned that transition stages like Tuesday\u2019s rollercoaster can sometimes produce more surprises and GC shakeups than the straightforward summit finales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have to be ready for everything and see where the turning point of the race is,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cIn the third week, you always have different surprises. You have guys riding for their positions in the GC, and on a course like this you can make a lot of difference if you have good legs and you attack in the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visma ‘Dream Team’ down to six before closing red jersey deciders: ‘We have to be ready for everything.’…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,62140,82,72749,57421,67671,72750,72751,54267],"class_list":{"0":"post-133586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-parent_category-news","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tag-javier-romo","14":"tag-tag-jonas-vingegaard","15":"tag-tag-sepp-kuss","16":"tag-tag-victor-campanaerts","17":"tag-tag-visma-lease-a-bike","18":"tag-type-article"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}