Three-time Vuelta a Espana winner Primoz Roglic ruled out of 2022 race after nasty Stage 16 crash

Primoz Roglic will not start Stage 17 of the 2022 Vuelta a Espana following a horror crash at the end of the previous day's stage. His team, Jumbo-Visma, announced on Wednesday morning that the three-time champion is out of the race «as a consequence of yesterday's crash». Ad «Unfortunately, Primoz Roglic will not be at the start of Stage 17 as a consequence of yesterday’s crash,» they wrote in a tweet.

Vuelta a EspañaLa Vuelta: How to watch Stage 17 as more drama awaits2 HOURS AGO «Get well soon, champion! Thank you for all the beautiful moments in this Vuelta. You had ambitious plans for the final days, but sadly it isn’t meant to be.» Roglic blew the peloton apart when he launched an attack inside the final 3km as the race headed to Tomares on Tuesday, but somehow contrived to crash in the sprint tear-up after an apparent clash of handlebars with Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious). Roglic had been second in the general classification and was looking to make more inroads into the lead of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl's Remco Evenepoel.

The Belgian suffered a puncture soon after his Slovenian rival attacked near the finish, but as the incident occurred inside the final 3km he was given only an eight-second gap to the lead group. Roglic's abandonment continues a difficult year of Grand Tour racing for the former ski jumper. The 32-year-old was forced to leave the Tour de France ahead of the final rest day after battling through injuries suffered in a crash caused by a stray hay bale on Stage Five.