Bahrain Victorious defend Fred Wright after Primoz Roglic accuses him of causing La Vuelta crash

Bahrain Victorious have defended their rider Fred Wright, rubbishing accusations he was at fault for the Stage 16 crash which ruled Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) out of La Vuelta. Roglic looked set to battle it out with Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) in the latter stages of the race, before the former collided with Wright towards the end of the stage. Ad Following his exit, Roglic pointed the blame at Wright for the “unacceptable” crash, a claim dismissed by Bahrain Victorious in a statement on Friday.

Vuelta a EspañaRoglic blames Wright for causing 'unacceptable' Vuelta crash8 HOURS AGO “Team Bahrain Victorious stand by Fred,” the statement read. “It is our belief that this was a racing incident. Unfortunately crashes are a part of our sport and this isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, even though riders do their best to avoid them.

“The race footage supports this: our rider does not deviate from his racing line before the incident. “We also believe that if a team has certain feelings about an incident on the road, the place to take those up is with the commissaires after the stage rather than a statement online some days later.” Wright also commented on the claims from Roglic, and said the statement was unfair. “I don’t think the statement is fair to be honest, as the footage shows it was a simple racing incident, but I also appreciate that Primoz was challenging for the red jersey here at La Vuelta.