There was plenty of suffering to go around on stage 5 of the UAE Tour with five riders leaving the race before Saturday's penultimate stage due to crashes and pre-existing ailments.
The misfortune at the race did not end with Dylan Groenewegen's concussion or the crashes suffered by Paul Seixas and Fernando Gaviria, however.
Stage 6, a pan-flat 165km day in the saddle, brought bad news for Ineos Grenadiers and Carlos Rodríguez.
Sunday morning brought the news that the Spaniard, who didn't make it to the finish of the previous day's stage, had broken his collarbone in a crash.
Rodríguez figured to be a major player in Sunday's final stage up to the summit finish at Jebel Hafeet. He lay in 21st overall, some 1:46 adrift of race leader (now race champion) Tadej Pogačar, but the 24-year-old will have hoped to bounce back from an anonymous 17th place on Jebel Jais.
Instead, Rodríguez comes away from the UAE with nothing to show for his efforts, while he now faces a multi-week layoff as the calendar turns to the spring.
His Ineos Grenadiers team confirmed the news on Sunday morning ahead of the UAE Tour's concluding stage 7, won by Pogačar in a dominant display ahead of Giulio Ciccone and Pello Bilbao.
"Sadly, Carlos Rodríguez has not started after hospital tests revealed he suffered a collarbone fracture in a crash on stage 6," the team announced in a social media post. "Heal up soon, Carlos."
Despite the British team's leader's plight, it wasn't all doom and gloom for Ineos in the UAE this week. Of course, Josh Tarling rode a stunning time trial on stage 2 to claim the stage victory, his team's first WorldTour triumph of the new season.
Elsewhere this weekend, the team will be hoping that Laurens De Plus can convert his third place overall into a final podium spot at the Volta ao Algarve as the Belgian rider faces up to the 19.6km closing time trial on Sunday afternoon.
