VN news ticker: No broken bones for Tony Martin after crash, Lights out for Luke Rowe as he misses Tour time cut

No broken bones for Tony Martin

Stage 11 of the Tour de France was a day of mixed feelings for Jumbo-Visma. Wout van Aert claiming an impressive solo victory over Mont Ventoux, but the team lost Tony Martin to a heavy crash mid-way through the stage.

Martin crashed to the right of the peloton, landing in a ditch at the side of the road. He appeared to have hit his head heavily, stumbling slightly as he stood up, and was bleeding from his face.

Jumbo-Visma reported after the stage that Martin had some loose teeth following the crash and needed several stitches but he had not broken any bones.

“It was a really bad start for us, indeed. Tony had some teeth which were loose so he said immediately I cannot go further. That’s a pity on a beautiful day,” sport director Frans Massen told Eurosport.

Martin is the third rider from Jumbo-Visma to leave the race after Robert Gesink and Primož Roglič abandoned due to injury in the first week.

Bad luck continued even today, but the boys turned it around in the end 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻 Congrats @WoutvanAert and get well soon @tonymartin85 https://t.co/IcX2LJamvT

— grischa niermann (@grischaniermann) July 7, 2021

Lights go out for Luke Rowe as he misses Ventoux time cut

Thursday’s double ascent of Mont Ventoux was a brutal day out for the Tour de France peloton. Seven riders stepped off their bikes before the finish line, while Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers) was the lone rider to miss the time cut.

After getting into difficulty on the Col de la Liguière with more than 100 kilometers left to the finish in Malaucène, Rowe rode solo in the hope of scraping through. It was not to be as he rolled in several minutes after the day’s time limit.

“It’s a brutal sport and that’s the reality of it sometimes,” Rowe said in an audio message sent out by his team. “It was a solid start, there were a lot of attacks to get into the breakaway. I felt alright throughout the day. As the moves were going, guys were getting dropped and I felt like I held my own in the early stages.

“We hit the early slopes of the first big categorized climb and it was literally like I hit the wall. The lights went out, it was like someone flipped a switch. Guys who I would normally outclimb relatively easily were leaving me for dead. There were over 100k to go, and I was on my own.

“I never lost belief I could arrive at the finish within the time limit, but I missed it by five minutes or so. I’m just gutted really. It’s tough and it’s the first time in my career that I’ve missed the time cut and what a race to do it on.”

We’re gonna miss him. Here’s @LukeRowe1990’s honest account of a brutal day at the Tour.

He’ll be back 👊 #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/Wmb5o3Sjg5

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) July 7, 2021