Luckless Australian cyclist Jay Vine has suffered a Giro d'Italia-ending crash, with the Tour Down Under champion needing to be taken to hospital after a mass accident on the second stage involving nearly 20 riders.
This latest misfortune adds to a string of injuries for Vine, whose career was nearly ended by a severe back-breaking fall during the Tour of the Basque Country in 2024. He was competing in his first race since another heavy crash at the Tour of Catalunya in March.
As with the Basque crash in 2024, his wife Bre was forced to watch the Giro d'Italia crash from home while pregnant. Bre, a former cyclist herself, is 33 weeks pregnant with their second child.
Vine's Tour of Catalunya appearance had been his first race since an infamous incident in January, when he battled through the final stage to claim victory in the Tour Down Under despite a crash involving a kangaroo that bounded into the peloton.
The latest accident occurred before the final climb on the hilly, rain-soaked roads from Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo. The 30-year-old and several others from his powerful UAE Team Emirates squad took heavy spills while navigating a wet turn.
Vine was taken away on a stretcher and placed into an ambulance, ending his race. Teammate Marc Soler also ended up in hospital. Team leader Adam Yates finished bloodied, covered in mud and with head injuries, but managed to complete the stage. However, his hopes of winning are over after he finished nearly 14 minutes behind stage winner Guillermo Thomas Silva, the first Uruguayan to win a grand tour stage.
UAE team boss Mauro Gianetti admitted the team had feared such an incident. "We were scared because we knew that the weather and the rain would make the roads very dangerous," he said. "And this happened. We have two riders, Jay Vine and Marc Soler, on the way to hospital. We just hope it's nothing too bad. Nothing is clear about their conditions for the moment. We're just waiting for information from the doctors."
This is another distressing episode for Vine, who has endured a catalogue of misfortune in races while becoming a force in Grand Tours, winning four stages of the Spanish Vuelta. The world time trial silver medallist is such a strong climber that he would have been a potential back-up option for UAE to challenge for the race victory.
The crash caused a temporary neutralisation of the race. When it resumed with 18.2km left, favourite Jonas Vingegaard attacked and opened a gap on the peloton before Giulio Pellizzari and Lenny Van Eetvelt chased him down the descent. However, with half a kilometre left, the peloton caught the trio, leading to a frantic sprint. XDS Astana rider Silva prevailed in a photo finish from Spaniard Florian Stork and Italian Giulio Ciccone, also becoming the first Uruguayan to take the leader's pink jersey.
