Stable compression fractures for Narváez on day full of crashes and withdrawals at the Tour Down Under

In a shortened, heat-affected fifth stage in Australia, UAE’s main job was to defend their strong position in the general classification. Vine entered the day as race leader after his Stage 2 win, with Narváez the only rider close enough in the standings, just six seconds behind. However, early in Stage 4 the Ecuadorian went down hard on his own and stayed on the ground.

The 2025 Tour Down Under winner was treated briefly on the asphalt before being placed on a stretcher and taken away by ambulance. UAE later said via official channels that a medical update would follow. From the race itself it was clear that Narváez was withdrawn immediately, partly due to the suspicion of a concussion. On footage he was clearly in a lot of pain.

Several hours after the finish, UAE team doctor Adrian Rotunno delivered a disappointing diagnosis: Narváez suffered stable compression fractures in his thoracic vertebrae. He does not require surgery but must remain in hospital for observation. Laengen escaped without fractures but did pick up a rib injury.

The Tour Down Under was effectively a battlefield on Day 5 when it came to withdrawals. After Narváez, Laengen also had to abandon later in the stage. Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was involved in the same crash and was forced out as well. Jardi van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost) did not finish, and Liam Walsh failed to complete the race for the Australian national team.

NSN celebrated the day with a stage victory for Ethan Vernon, but his lead-out man Jake Stewart didn’t make it either — he fell and was taken to hospital, the team reported. Meanwhile, Corbin Strong, another key lead-out rider for Vernon, also withdrew. Groupama-FDJ lost no fewer than three riders, with Antoin L’Hôte, Rémi Cavagna, and Kevin Geniets all registering DNFs.

So far in the opening race of 2026, the Tour Down Under has delivered a surprisingly high count of crashes and injuries. On Day 2, Max van der Meulen (Bahrain Victorious) and Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor) had already crashed hard, followed by Lennert van Eetvelt and Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché) on Day 4.