Vuelta a Espana 2021 - 'Could be better, could be worse' - Jordi Meeus to assess injuries after stage two crash

ByEurosport

Published 15/08/2021 at 17:11 GMT

“Sometimes when you get a squeeze, and you are in the middle, you tend to panic and touch the brakes,” Brian Smith said of the crash that saw a number of riders hit the deck towards the end of the second stage. “It just causes a reaction, a touch of the brakes, bang. Disc brakes when you panic a bit, it is bang, down you go.”

Jordi Meeus will assess his injuries overnight after being involved in a crash towards the end of the second stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

With a little over four kilometres remaining in stage two, a touch of wheels in the middle of the peloton resulted in a group of riders hitting the deck.

Bora Hansgrohe were particularly hard hit, with a number of their team coming down.

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Meeus was one of those, and he came home six minutes and 19 seconds down on stage winner Jasper Phillipsen.

The Belgian spoke to Eurosport following the stage, and gave his reaction to the crash.

“I could be better, could be worse,” Meeus said. "Overall the damage is okay, so let’s see how the night is and how I will be tomorrow.

In front of me they touched each other and we crashed with a few guys.

“It is frustrating. You are waiting all day to sprint and a few kilometres before the finish you crash so it is frustrating.”

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Eurosport expert Brian Smith gave his view on the crash, and seemed to suggest the sensitivity of disc brakes played a part.

“Sometimes when you get a squeeze, and you are in the middle, you tend to panic and touch the brakes,” Smith said. “It just causes a reaction, a touch of the brakes, bang. Disc brakes when you panic a bit, it is bang, down you go.”

Magnus Backstedt feels there will be more crashes to come, as he said: “You are never safe inside the final 10kms of any bike race.

“As soon as there is a sprint on the cards, riders take risks and we are going to see it again and again and again.”

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