Visma | Lease a Bike issue update on crashed Christophe Laporte

The points leader was left on the Spanish tarmac, clearly in discomfort, and did not remount. “He seems to have got away with it relatively well,” said sports director Marc Reef.

“Someone in front of him slipped and took Christophe’s front wheel with them. He had nowhere to go and went down. He immediately said he couldn’t continue, but now at the finish it looks like it might not be too bad.”

Laporte was fourth on GC and also led the points classification, but could not defend either position. The final stage was won by Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), while Iván Romeo (Movistar) secured the overall victory.

“Christophe was well placed, both in the general classification and in the points classification. Unfortunately that’s all gone in one go. It’s a shame we couldn’t defend our chances,” Reef added.

“After Christophe dropped out, we immediately switched to Axel. He wasn’t well positioned at the foot of the climb, so he had to move up a lot of places. He fought for everything he had and still finished tenth. He did that well.”

All things considered, Visma | Lease a Bike’s overall takeaway remained relatively positive — especially with the Classics on the horizon and early indications that Laporte may not be too badly hurt. “We raced every day to win and we came close a number of times. We won the first stage and we can be happy with that. For most of the guys it was their first race of the season, and I think everyone took a step forward here. I’ve seen a lot of good things,” Reef concluded.