Speed bump in final 700 meters triggers heavy crash at Vuelta a Burgos

Riders crashed in the closing kilometer and a half-dozen fell hard after clipping a speed bump with about 700m to go in Wednesday’s second stage at the Vuelta a Burgos.

In what was an otherwise routine stage across the meseta of northern Spain turned into chaos after the peloton roared under the red kite for what was likely going to be the only pure bunch sprint of the five-day race.

Jumbo-Visma sprinter David Dekker lost control of his handlebars when he struck the elevated pedestrian crossing at about 500m to go. Dekker then fell over his bars and flipped onto his back. Others fell in his wake, including David Ballerini (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and an Ag2r-Citroën rider crashed into the barriers.

Three riders from Jumbo-Visma avoided the crash, and crossed the line to sweep the podium. Timo Roosen won the stage, with Edoardo Affini and Chris Harper trailing across one-two-three.

“It was really hectic already, and we took the front, Affini just pulled full-gas and it was an all-out effort,” Roosen said. “There was some speed bump out of nowhere, I didn’t really see it. I heard something behind me, but I didn’t know what happened. I looked behind me and I thought it was David, and then I heard he had crashed. I went to the final corner at 250m and just sprinted to the line. Because of the crash I was there and I could win.

“It’s a nice one to have on the palmares, but I hope to have it a different way,” he said. “I heard it was a big crash, I didn’t see anything. It’s not the most beautiful way to win a race.”

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Timo Roosen vencedor de la segunda etapa de la Vuelta a Burgos en el accidentado final de Villadiego #VueltaBurgos

Solo los tres ciclistas de Jumbo Visma que lanzaban el sprint han conseguido salvar la numerosa caída en el último kilómetro

En directo: https://t.co/xA9xxNzHsc pic.twitter.com/5YrOBJ1N3U

— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) August 3, 2022

Only a few were unaffected, and the majority of the bunch was forced to hit the brakes to avoid falling. A full medical report will reveal more details.

Overnight leader Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) retained the overall lead as the time differences were not counted because it happened within the closing 3km in the sprinter’s stage.

The Burgos tour continues Thursday with the 156km third stage from Quintana Martín Galíndez to Villarcayo. Three third-category climbs are punctuated by the hors-categorie climb at Picon Blanco with 40km to go.

🇪🇦 Vuelta a Burgos Stage 2️⃣🇪🇦
Timo Roosen 🇳🇱 wins the second stage of @VueltaBurgos and @JumboVismaRoad makes a hat-trick due to a big crash.
🥇 Timo Roosen 🇳🇱
🥈 Affini 🇮🇹 m.t.
🥉 Harper 🇦🇺 m.t.#VueltaBurgos pic.twitter.com/QSsRRXUVCq

— Master of Cycling (@cyclingmaster3) August 3, 2022