Mads Pedersen won a thrilling sprint at the end of stage 16 of the Vuelta a España as overall contender Primož Roglič's hopes of dislodging leader Remco Evenepoel were hit by a heavy crash metres from the line on Tuesday.
Roglič, bidding for a fourth successive overall victory, began the day 1 minute 34 seconds behind Evenepoel in second place and launched a stunning attack near the end of the 189-kilometre ride.
The Slovenian poured on the power on a short climb leading towards the finish in Tomares to split the race and only four other riders managed to stay with him.
As the finish line loomed, Roglič was overtaken and seconds later went down heavily after seemingly touching handlebars with those of Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) 100 metres from the line.
"All investigations for today have been carried out. Tomorrow morning, the team will decide in consultation with the medical doctor whether Primož will continue his fight this Vuelta," Roglič's Jumbo Visma team said in a statement.
Denmark's 2019 world champion Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) took the win from Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) and Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) with a bloodied Roglič getting gingerly back to his bike and rolling slowly over the line in the pursuing bunch.
As Roglič attacked Evenepoel appeared to have suffered a puncture inside the final 3km and required a bike change.
Initial timings suggested Roglič, despite his misfortune, had taken the red jersey with Evenepoel slipping down to third but that was soon revised with Evenepoel given the same time as the main peloton thanks to the 3km rule, which mitigates against crashes or mechanical issues at the end of stages.
When the dust settled Roglič, who was given the same time as Pedersen, had taken a mere eight seconds off Belgian Evenepoel who now leads by 1:26 from Roglič.
Spain's Enric Mas is 2:01 down in third place with some mountainous terrain on the horizon later this week.
It was tough on Roglič who looked in real discomfort as he reached the finish. It was also a lucky break for Evenepoel who could have seen his hard-earned overall lead vanish.
The flat stage, following Monday's rest day, had been led by escapees Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) and Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
But they were eventually reeled in as the pace quickened before the fireworks really began.
"I heard that Primož crashed, so I really hope he's okay and that he can continue the race," Evenepoel said.
"We all know that Primož is explosive so a final like this is 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.
"I'm happy that the 3km rule exists otherwise I would have lost a lot of time today."
Reuters/ABC
