Steven Kruijswijk has been forced to abandon the Vuelta a Espana due to a knee injury sustained in a crash during the stage 1 team time trial.
The fallout from the crash could be seen on stage 2, when Kruijswijk was dropped on the final climb in Calpe.The Jumbo-Visma rider was forced to stop midway through stage 4 complaining of soreness in his knee.
He and his Jumbo-Visma teammates started Saturday’s opening TTT as the odds on favorites to take the win, but disaster struck shortly after the squad rolled through a patch of wet roads.
The 32-year-old started the Vuelta off a first Grand Tour podium at the Tour and was hoping to repeat that feat in Spain, or at the very least support co-leader Primoz Roglic.
