We won’t be seeing much of Tim van Dijke at the front of the Vuelta for now: "Just glad I didn’t break my hip"

The crash happened on the right side of the road just after a roundabout. Most of the jerseys visible in the chaos were the yellow of Visma | Lease a Bike and the blue-white of Q36.5, but buried under the heap was Van Dijke. It wasn’t until most riders had already resumed racing that we saw the towering Dutchman limping next to his bike. He eventually got back on, but finished the stage 22 minutes and 23 seconds behind stage winner Vingegaard. Only Axel Zingle (Visma) finished later, and he abandoned the next day.

Van Dijke still appeared in the mixed zone afterward, though he limped his way to the microphone of IDLProCycling.com. "Honestly, I’m actually doing okay considering what happened, it could’ve been a lot worse," he said, still fairly optimistic. The streetlight that Pidcock narrowly avoided with some acrobatic skill was the very thing that spelled disaster for Van Dijke. "I slammed straight into that pole, and I really felt that. I just couldn’t ride properly and it took me a long time to reach the finish."

"Very painful," is how Tim van Dijke described the rest of Stage 2, an understatement, to say the least. Given that, it’s almost a miracle he lined up again on Monday for Stage 3. "The worst of it is my thigh muscle, that’s where I came to a full stop, and that kind of muscle doesn’t absorb impact easily. I’ve had ultrasounds and all that, and there’s no major damage, but there’s a big hematoma in the muscle. It’s badly bruised, but I’m just glad it wasn’t worse."

Considering the impact of the crash, Van Dijke could have been out of the race just like Axel Zingle. That he couldn’t contest a stage win on Stage 3, a finish that suited him perfectly, was secondary. "These things happen in a grand tour, so now it’s mostly about seeing what we can still do. I’m glad I didn’t break my hip, so Stage 3 is really just about getting the feeling back on the bike. From there, we’ll keep working."

Van Dijke started this Vuelta in a Danny van Poppel-type role for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, targeting the limited number of sprint opportunities and tough finishes suited for fast riders who can also climb. He finished a promising 11th in the Stage 1 bunch sprint, and on paper, stages 4 and 8 this week still look good for him. The big question now is: will we see Van Dijke back at the front by then?

Bram van der Ploeg ( Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])