They never got to see the Angliru: Along with O’Connor and Ryan, Castrillo also forced to withdraw after hard crash (and fracture)

Following the earlier withdrawals of Koen Bouwman and Chris Harper, Jayco-AlUla also removed the name of team leader Ben O'Connor from the list. The 29-year-old Australian was on fire in the first week and was in an excellent position in the GC. However, on day 10, he crashed, which immediately had consequences in the days that followed.

After his withdrawal in stage 13, Jayco AlUla released a short statement mentioning a rib injury. “He sustained this injury in a crash in stage 10, and it did not improve. He will now go home for further tests,” said the Australian team. O'Connor was in the Vuelta to chase a classification.

The climber finished second in last year's Vuelta a España and won the stage on the Col de la Loze in July's Tour de France. However, he was unable to compete for the general classification in the Tour de France due to a crash on the first day. He only recovered during the second week, before striking in the fog on the Col de la Loze.

In addition to O'Connor, three other names were also crossed off the list on Friday. Archie Ryan decided not even to start. The 23-year-old Irishman from EF Education-EasyPost finished last on day 12 and, according to the team, was already struggling with a muscle injury in his right buttock. “He is returning home to prevent further injury,” was the verdict.

That wasn't the end of the top climbers in the Vuelta, because although we didn't see anything during the stage, Pablo Castrillo of Movistar did not make it to the finish. The 24-year-old Spaniard had fallen during the descent of La Mozqueta. “Medical tests have shown that he has broken his left collarbone,” said the team.

This was a setback for Castrillo, who won two stages of the Vuelta last season with Equipe Kern Pharma and was already close to victory on day 10 of this edition, finishing second in the breakaway. “In the second corner of the descent, I turned too sharply, causing my wheel to end up in the gutter. This caused the bike to veer to the left, and I crashed hard. Now it's time to recover.”

Finally, we did not see Fernando Barceló at the finish line at the top of the Angliru. The 29-year-old Spaniard from Caja Rural saw "ten days of suffering" come to an end. "Fernando had to leave the race due to a broken rib, which had been causing him pain for ten days."