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Astana Qazaqstan Team (WT)

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Mark Cavendish joins Astana, aims for Tour de France record

• Associated Press

BRUSSELS -- Veteran sprinter Mark Cavendish might still get a chance to claim the outright record for stage wins at the Tour de France.

Cavendish has joined Astana-Qazaqstan to extend his storied career by one season and will be hoping to ride for the Kazakh team at cycling's biggest race in July. The 37-year-old British road champion and cycling great Eddy Merckx currently top the all-time list with 34 stage wins.

"The joy of riding my bike and the hunger to continue winning are as bright as ever," Cavendish said in a statement provided by Astana on Tuesday. "As always, the objective will be for us to stand on the top podium."

Cavendish equaled Merckx's record at the 2021 Tour de France, 13 years after his first stage win. Cavendish - who has never won the Tour, unlike five-time champion Merckx - was not selected for last year's edition by his former Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team.

Astana is managed by former Olympic road champion Alexander Vinokourov. Adding a big name like Cavendish's to its roster is a welcome move for the team following the retirement of Vincenzo Nibali , and the firing in December of Miguel Angel Lopez for his alleged links with a doctor suspected of drug trafficking.

"He is the best sprinter of all time," Vinokourov said about Cavendish. "The arrival of a top sprinter in our team is kind of a challenge for us, but we are ready for it. The goals however are still the same - victories in any kind of race: classics, stages in different stage races and, of course, in the Grand Tours. Mark still has a big desire to win."

Known as "The Manx Missile" as he comes from the Isle of Man, Cavendish also won the Tour de France best sprinter's green jersey twice. He has won stages at all three Grands Tours - Tour de France, Giro and Vuelta - and was crowned world champion in 2011.

Vinokourov won the 2006 Spanish Vuelta and four individual stages at the Tour de France between 2003-10. He was banned for two years after testing positive for blood doping at the 2007 Tour but came back to win the men's road race at the 2012 London Olympics. He started his managerial career after retiring that year.

Mark Cavendish reunited with leadout king Mark Renshaw at Astana Qazaqstan for Tour de France

Australian joins team as 'sprint and leadout consultant'

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Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw are to be reunited at Astana Qazaqstan, as the latter joins the team as a sprint consultant for the Tour de France . Renshaw said he cancelled other jobs in July to take the chance to make history.

Cavendish will head to the Tour next week, his 14th, hoping to break the record for stage wins; his record currently stands at 34, tied with Eddy Merckx. Just one more victory would see the Manxman top the standings.

To help with this goal, his Astana Qazaqstan team has brought in Renshaw, Cavendish's long-term former leadout man to consult on sprint finishes. He led Cavendish to many of his famous wins, including helping him to six in 2009, when both rode for Columbia HTC.

The pair rode for HTC Highroad together, and then rejoined forces at Etixx Quick-Step and then latterly Dimension Data. Renshaw retired in 2019, while Cavendish is still riding.

“I am really thrilled to return to the Tour de France with Astana Qazaqstan Team and Mark Cavendish as a sprint and lead-out consultant," the 40-year-old said in a statement from Astana. 

"After discussing the possibility to join Astana Qazaqstan Team with Alexandr Vinokurov and my ex-teammate Dmitriy Fofonov, I am really looking forward to bringing my skillset to help the team chase success. 

"Our goal is to secure victories in the sprint stages, and I am eager to share my knowledge and experience gained as a lead-out rider and teammate of Mark Cavendish."

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Cavendish's first - and only - win of the season came in May at the Giro d'Italia , where the 38-year-old won the final stage in Rome . He only needs a single similar opportunity to go top in the all-time stage win ranking.

“Mark’s recent victory in the Giro d'Italia is proof that he still possesses the speed, power, and determination needed to win Grand Tour stages," Renshaw continued. "With the support of Astana Qazaqstan Team and the talented riders selected for the race, I am confident that he has what it takes to win in this year’s Tour de France. 

"I cancelled other jobs in July which shows my confidence in him. As we prepare for the important sprint stages, I am excited to work with the team’s Sports Directors to develop effective tactics and strategies, analysing and breaking down sprint stages is something I absolutely love to do.

"Mark’s career is already a big success, but I am excited to have the opportunity to help Mark finish his career on an absolute high and chase his 35th victory in the Grand Boucle ."

Cavendish wrote on Instagram : "Sooo buzzing about this.... Apart from so many years together, so many victories & so many memories, the analytical view that Mark has on sprinting is ridiculously valuable. With the added bonus of knowing first hand how both my legs and mind work. Myself and everyone at Astana are proud and excited to have you on board mate."

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Adam is Cycling Weekly ’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing, speaking to people as varied as Demi Vollering to Philippe Gilbert. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.

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Vinokurov Talks Development of Astana Qazaqstan Team, Challenges and Plans in Exclusive Interview

By Assel Satubaldina in Nation , Sports on 15 April 2023

ASTANA – The Astana Qazaqstan Team, a professional road cycling racing team based in Kazakhstan, aims to enter the world’s top 18 teams, said Alexander Vinokurov, former professional road cyclist and the team’s general manager, in an exclusive interview with The Astana Times.

Alexander Vinokurov. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

Astana Qazaqstan Team was founded in 2006 and has since then competed in many major cycling events around the world, including Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a España. 

The team has had several notable victories in these races. Some of the most successful cyclists to have competed for the Astana Qazaqstan Team include Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Aru, Alexey Lutsenko, and Jakob Fuglsang.

Vinokurov, who retired from professional cycling after winning gold at the London Olympics in 2012 and has led the team since 2013, said it struggles to reach the results of 2014-2015 because of multiple challenges. 

“Look at our stats from 2014-2015 when we were top level, and riders were trying to join the Astana [team] to win a grand tour. After 2018, we just stayed at the same level while other competitors kept growing, investing in the team, having big budgets, and signing good cyclists,” said Vinokurov. 

The main team. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

He recalled 2018, when the team had 40 wins in the season and was fourth in the Union Cycliste Internationale team rankings. Now the team has dropped to the 25th position. 

The past two years were pivotal for the team, from the change of staff to the dismissal of Vinokurov as a team leader in June 2021. He returned to his post later in August of the same year. 

“The team was feeling it,” he explained. 

Latest races  

At the beginning of the year, the team’s management discusses the schedule with each rider and member of staff. This is when it is decided in which race the team members will participate in.

Mark Cavendish, Cees Bol, Dmitriy Gruzdev, Yevgeniy Fedorov, Martin Laas, Igor Chzhan, and Gleb Syritsa participated in the Scheldeprijs race in Belgium on April 5. Cavendish finished third, leading at first, but at the end, falling behind the eventual winner Jasper Philipsen and second-placed Sam Welsford.

Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who has joined Astana Qazaqstan for the 2023 season, finished third in the 111th Scheldeprijs, the oldest race in Flanders. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

The team also took part in the Paris-Roubaix on April 9 in France, the third of the five Monument one-day races.

Astana Qazaqstan Team also participated in the UCI World Tour stage race Itzulia Basque Country from April 3 to April 8.

Vinokurov said it is tough for the team to compete in several locations at once.

Paris Roubaix 2023. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

“This year, we got off to a good start in February. In March, it was difficult. There was not a day when someone was not sick. Sometimes we have to change the program for riders at the very last moment. We have to adapt. We are not shining with results so far,” he said. 

The goal is to survive

“Now we need to adjust. But it takes time. It is easy to break, we have been building [the team] for at least ten years. In 2019, we dropped to sixth place in the overall rankings and in 2020 to 11th place,” he said. 

The team during the training. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

The top teams are now British Ineos Grenadiers and the UAE Team Emirates, which has Tadej Pogačar, a Slovenian cyclist, on its team. Pogačar is the world’s No. 1 in the UCI individual rankings, breaking for the first time in history the 6,000-point barrier. 

“It is hard to compete when teams have very big budgets that are two to three times larger than yours,” said Vinokurov. 

The team is seeking a co-sponsor, something it has tried to accomplish since 2020 following criticism from Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the inexpediency of maintaining professional sports clubs entirely at the expense of the state. 

Alexey Lutsenko of Kazakhstan and Astana Qazaqstan Team celebrates winning during the first Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior 2022 on Feb. 14, 2022, in Ubeda, Spain. Photo credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images

Back then, Samruk Kazyna, the general partner of the cycling team, set a goal to cut half of the funding and introduce a co-sponsor to share the financial expenditure with Kazakhstan.

“But this is a difficult period not only for Kazakhstan but also for the world, given what is happening. We hope we will attract a second sponsor who will raise the budget to $25-$30 million, then we will be able to compete. Today, $25 million is the average budget of a world cycling team. We do not even come close to this average,” Vinokurov said.

He added Kazakhstan is still number one in Asia.

Strength and weaknesses

When asked about the team’s biggest strength, Vinokurov said the staff. 

“Riders come and go, but the personnel remain. You work together with them every day, sometimes for one and a half months, you live in one room, they become like a second family,” said Vinokurov. 

Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Fedorov wins a gold medal at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

The team lacks a leader, he added, yet finding one requires a budget. 

“The team clearly lacks a leader. It used to be Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador. But Nibali has already retired. When you have an obvious leader, it is easier to build a team around him. The team’s wings spread, the guys can do the impossible. But to find a leader, you need a budget,” said Vinokurov.  

Among the near-term goals for the national team is preparing for the Asian Road Cycling Championship on June 7 in Thailand.

Raising hopes for juniors

Looking to the future, Vinokurov expressed great hope for juniors. There are currently two youth teams in Kazakhstan – the Vino SKO team based in the North Kazakhstan Region, where Vinokurov is from, and the Apple City team of Almaty, funded by the city akimat (administration) and Astana Group holding. 

Astana Qazaqstan Development Team 2023. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

Vinokurov said they found the right person in Spain, a cycling fan, who is ready to train the junior cyclists. The first group will depart for Granada in May. 

“Young riders are from 19 to 23 years old, and if they show results, they are then promoted to the youth Astana team [referring to a UCI Continental team for under-23 riders, named Astana Qazaqstan Development Team]. If we see talent, we will sign them into the professional team, so we do not have to look for riders outside [Kazakhstan] or hire them,” said Vinokurov. 

He also emphasized the importance of involving women in the sport. Globally, women still face challenges in terms of representation and gender equity compared to men’s cycling.

“Women are more represented [in cycling] now. I have always said that you have to give women in Kazakhstan a chance. There used to be disagreement just ten years ago about why we need girls and women [in this sport], but I always knew that [it is necessary],” he added. 

Dream big and work hard

Vinokurov said dreaming big and working hard are key to success. Young riders, however, should not aim to get into a team but rather show results, he said. 

“Dream and work hard. If you have the desire, you can achieve more,” he stressed. “I tell the guys to not think about contracts. You have to think about the result – if you manage to achieve it, the contract and the money will follow.”

Vinokurov himself is a demonstration of how strong will and perseverance can bring accomplishments. The Kazakh rider has overcome numerous obstacles and setbacks in his career to become one of the most prominent cyclists of his generation.

Alexander Vinokurov wins the cycling road race at London 2012 London Olympics. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

Born on Sept. 16, 1973, in Bishkul, Vinokurov began cycling at a young age, honing his skills on the rugged terrain of his homeland. It was in February 1984 when a 23-year-old novice coach Sergey Kruchina walked into a class in a secondary school in the village of Bishkul in the North Kazakhstan Region and announced the opening of a cycling section at a local sports school. Many kids agreed to visit the section. Fourth grader Alexander Vinokurov was one of them.

“When I first started [cycling], there was no professional sport. We did it because we just liked it. We never dreamed of getting into professional sports. Today the kids have all the steps and stages [laid out for them],” he said. 

Vinokurov won more than 60 high-profile races, including overall classification and three stages of the Vuelta a España grand tour, four stages and podium (third place) of the overall classification of the Tour de France grand tour, overall classification of the Paris-Nice stage race two times, Criterium Dauphine and Giro del Trentino stage races, Liege – Bastogne – Liege classical race two times, Amstel Gold Race classical race, silver medal at 2000 Olympic Games and the 2012 Olympic Games, just a year after he suffered a serious injury.

Vinokurov sings the national anthem of Kazakhstan at the Olympic Games in 2012. Photo credit: Sprint Cycling

“The hardest moment was in 2011, when I broke my femoral neck and became an Olympic champion a year later. I felt like something wasn’t finished,” he said. 

Meeting with President Tokayev last year

Vinokurov noted that the support he received from President Tokayev during their meeting in April 2022 meant a lot to him. 

Preparing to meet Tokayev, there was only one question in his mind – what is the future of the team. 

“He told me, ‘Alexander Nikolaevich, we are not going to end this. Astana is a recognizable brand in the world. We have invested money for 17 years. We should continue to move forward.’ I was happy to hear this and I’m ready to work to raise another Olympic champion for my country,” said Vinokurov, recalling his meeting with Tokayev.  

Vinokurov and Tokayev during their meeting in April 2022. Photo credit: Akorda.kz

For him, it was a sign that “things are getting better.” 

“Astana [team] is indeed the calling card of our country. In any country that we visit, everyone knows Astana. Our project lives on and our riders are showing results,” concluded Vinokurov.

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Astana Qazaqstan Team

Born from the ashes of the Liberty-Seguros team in the wake of the Operación Puerto scandal in 2006, Astana entered the sport of cycling during a hugely turbulent time.

The team’s primary purpose is to promote its home country of Kazakhstan and give Kazakh riders a platform upon which they can showcase their talents to the world. Their biggest victories, however, have been taken by their foreign riders, namely Spain’s Alberto Contador and Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali who each won a Tour de France while riding in the team’s iconic sky-blue livery.

While Astana may have won the biggest race in the sport, twice, their glory days are long over and in recent years they’ve looked more like start-list fillers than big race winners. The departure of Nibali at the end of 2022 left a giant hole at the heart of the squad, one that Astana will hope the likes of Alexey Lutsenko, Gianni Moscon and their new talisman - Mark Cavendish - can hopefully fill.

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• Nationality Kazakhstan
• Founded 2006
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Cavendish’s return to cycling delayed as recovery is taking longer than expected

FILE - Britain’s Mark Cavendish is cheered by fans as he completes the sixth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 145 kilometers (90 miles) with start in Tarbes and finish in Cauterets-Cambasque, France, on July 6, 2023. Cavendish has delayed his return to racing as he struggles with health issues in what is expected to be his final professional season. Cavendish has not raced since he abandoned Milano-Torino on March 13, and was expected to return on Wednesday April 3, 2024 at the Scheldeprijs, a Belgian event he has won three times. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

FILE - Britain’s sprinter Mark Cavendish, known as the Manx Missile, greets fans ahead of the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) with start in Amorebieta Etxano, Spain and finish in Bayonne, France, on July 3, 2023. Cavendish has delayed his return to racing as he struggles with health issues in what is expected to be his final professional season. Cavendish has not raced since he abandoned Milano-Torino on March 13, and was expected to return on Wednesday April 3, 2024 at the Scheldeprijs, a Belgian event he has won three times. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

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BRUSSELS (AP) — British cyclist Mark Cavendish has delayed his return to racing as he struggles with health issues in what is expected to be his final professional season.

Cavendish has not raced since he abandoned Milano-Torino on March 13, and was expected to return on Wednesday at the Scheldeprijs, a Belgian event he has won three times.

Instead, his Astana Qazaqstan Team said on Tuesday his racing program “will undergo some changes due to sickness and the subsequent recovery period.”

Cavendish’s next planned races have changed to the Tour of Turkey in the second half of April and the Tour of Hungary in May.

Astana Qazaqstan did not specify Cavendish’s health issues.

The British sprinter reversed his decision to retire at the end of last season in hope that he will have another go at becoming the outright record-holder for most career stage wins at the Tour de France.

Cavendish equaled Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins during the 2021 Tour, 13 years after his first success, and came close to a 35th in the seventh stage of the 2023 edition.

“After being sick for several weeks following the Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Torino, Mark Cavendish has resumed his training, continuing his preparation for his biggest goals of the season,” said Vasilis Anastopoulos, the head of performance at Astana Qazaqstan.

Cavendish, the most successful sprinter in Tour history, crashed during the eighth stage last summer, breaking his right collarbone.

He’s won the Tour de France best sprinter’s green jersey twice. He has won stages at all three Grand Tours — Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Spanish Vuelta — and was the world champion in 2011.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports

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Mark Cavendish Hits Another Pothole in Path to Tour de France as Racing Return Delayed

Manxman sidelined from scheldeprijs after struggles with sickness, will not return to the peloton until mid-april..

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Mark Cavendish ‘s sickness-riddled spring continues to put potholes into his path toward the Tour de France and his quest to complete “Project 35.”

Astana-Qazaqstan confirmed Tuesday that Cavendish would skip his planned appearance at Scheldeprijs – a race he won three times – in favor of a controlled return to racing while he shakes off a month-long illness.

“After being sick for several weeks following the Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Torino, Mark Cavendish has resumed his training, continuing his preparation for his biggest goals of the season,” said Vasilis Anastopoulos, head of performance at Astana-Qazaqstan.

“The team has adapted the racing plan, and as a result, Mark will miss the classic race Scheldeprijs and will instead spend some time at a training camp. After that, he plans to compete in the Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye and then the Tour de Hongrie.”

Cavendish’s revised roadmap for the spring will keep him out of the peloton until April 21 in what is another divot in his mission to make history by out-scoring Eddy Merckx at the Tour de France.

He last took to a startline at Milan-Torino in mid-March before sickness saw him record a DNF, meaning he will be out of action some five weeks when he lines out in Turkey.

The season has been tough on “Cav” since he scored victory on race-day 4 in February’s Tour of Colombia.

The 38-year-old abandoned the UAE Tour with fever and was then booted from Tirreno-Adriatico after he missed the time cut at the end of a wild mountain stage through the Apennines.

His long-lingering illness then took him out of Milano-Torino last month.

Cavendish and his trainer-turned-mentor Anastopoulos will now be putting Cavendish on a fast-track training program to be ready for the Tour on June 29.

A clash of sprinting titans! Start lists Link in comments! #SP24 #FLCS pic.twitter.com/x8bQKHBBG3 — Scheldeprijs (@Scheldeprijs) March 26, 2024

The sprinter-friendly Scheldeprijs race will roll on without its second-most winning rider Wednesday.

The start list for the 205km Dutch-Belgian classic reads like a who’s-who of fast finishers, with Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier, Kaden Groves, and Dylan Groenewegen all slated to start.

Breakout U.S. talent Luke Lamperti will saddle up alongside his Soudal Quick-Step wingman Merlier in Terneuzen for his Scheledprijs debut Wednesday.

After blasting to an impressive top-10 among a pack of cobble-bashing sprinters at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne this February, the 21-year-old tough-finish-speedster will be one to watch.

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• Itzulia Basque Country stage 5 Live – a day after huge crash, racing continues

Astana Qazaqstan unveil 'veins of mineral stones' kit for Tour de France

Fresh design for Mark Cavendish in final tilt at Tour sprints

Astana Qazaqstan have become the latest team to unveil a new kit for the 2023 Tour de France . Mark Cavendish and company will wear a redesigned jersey for the race, which gets underway in Bilbao on July 1.

The new kit retains Astana’s traditional blue and gold colours, but the pattern is designed to mimic the “veins of mineral stones.” 

The team explained that “the graphics used in the unique design combine the power of minerals and precious stones that the land of Kazakhstan is rich in.”

The redesign follows the news that Astana Qazaqstan had secured two new backers, namely KAZ Minerals and investment company Freedom Broker. The team described the companies as “two leaders of the Kazakh economy in their fields.”

The new jersey is not the only alteration at Astana prior to the Tour. On Thursday, the team announced that Cavendish’s former lead-out man Mark Renshaw has come on board for the Tour as a ‘sprint and lead-out consultant.’

Cavendish is riding his final Tour after announcing that he would retire at the end of this season, and he is chasing a record-breaking 35th stage victory in July. 

The Manxman currently shares the record with Eddy Merckx, having drawn level with the Belgian on his last Tour appearance in 2021.

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End of an era - Mark Cavendish and the Tour de France 

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Jonas vingegaard breaks collarbone, ribs in cycling crash.

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ALTSASU, SPAIN - APRIL 03: Jonas Vingegaard Hansen of Denmark and Team Visma | Lease a Bike competes during the 63rd Itzulia Basque Country 2024, Stage 3 a 190.9km stage from Ezpeleta to Altsasu 526m / #UCIWT / on April 03, 2024 in Altsasu, Spain. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

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Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard broke his collarbone and several ribs in a race crash on Thursday.

Denmark’s Vingegaard was part of a multi-rider crash with about 21 miles left in the Tour of the Basque Country’s fourth stage in Spain.

His team, Jumbo | Lease a Bike, said Vingegaard crashed hard was taken to a hospital .

World road race and time trial champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and Tokyo Olympic time trial champion Primoz Roglič of Slovenia were also involved in the crash .

Like Vingegaard, they withdrew from the tour.

Evenepoel fractured his right collarbone and his right scapula.

Roglič's team said he did not have any fractures. He gave a thumbs-up to a broadcast camera as he rode away in a car.

A message from @EvenepoelRemco for his fans 😊 pic.twitter.com/GiyApRw8Ij — Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) April 4, 2024

Vingegaard suffers broken collarbone after 'terrible' crash in Basque Country

T wo-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard broke his collarbone and several ribs after a horror mass crash during stage four of the Tour of the Basque Country on Thursday.

"It was a terrible fall but thankfully he is in a stable condition and conscious," his team Visma-Lease a Bike reported on X.

"Tests in hospital have revealed that he has suffered a broken collarbone and several ribs. He remains under supervision at the hospital," the team added on the social media platform.

Belgian ace Remco Evenepoel was another to emerge battered and bruised from the horror accident.

"Remco will return to Belgium tomorrow to be operated on a broken collarbone and pass further tests at the hospital at Herentals," his Soudal-Quick Step team announced.

His injuries have ruled him out of upcoming one-day classics in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Other big names involved in the crash who were taken to hospital were Jay Vine and Steff Cras, while Primoz Roglic was also involved and did not finish the stage.

"Over the radio we heard that Jonas was involved in a big crash," said Visma sports director Addy Engels. "We immediately saw that it didn't look good when we arrived to him."

Despite the gravity of Vingegaard's injuries they came as almost a sense of relief that they were not more serious.

Several of the 12 riders involved in the crash fell into a concrete ditch after sliding off on a corner with around 35 kilometres to go in the run from Etxarri Aranatz to Legutio, in northern Spain.

The 2022 and 2023 Tour de France winner Vingegaard was taken to an ambulance on a stretcher, while Belgian Evenepoel was walking but his team Soudal Quick Step confirmed he was also going to hospital.

"Jonas is conscious and will be examined in the hospital now," Visma said at the scene.

"Thank you for your messages. More updates later," they added of their 27-year-old star who won the Basque Tour last year.

Last week Visma rider Wout van Aert suffered identical injuries in another bad crash at the Dwars door Vlaanderen one-day race.

Roglic, who also abandoned the race, offered a thumbs-up to television cameras while sitting in the Bora-Hansgrohe team car, to show he was not significantly injured.

UAE Team Emirates said their Australian rider Vine was also taken to hospital but was conscious and talking, along with Team TotalEnergies rider Cras.

The crash happened on the descent from the Alto de Olaeta after a rider in the front of the peloton slid off the road on a right-hand bend.

"Horrified by the crash we witnessed today. Our team was spared, but we feel for those who got caught," said team Decathlon-AG2R on X.

"We can only wish that all riders involved are not injured too seriously."

- 'Stage times not counted' -

A six-man breakaway was allowed to continue to try and race for the stage win in the final 18km, with Louis Meintjes crossing the line first.

"The race is neutralised until the finish line, the six leading riders will compete in the stage but the stage times will not be counted for the general classification," race organisers said.

"The bunch will go in neutral until the finish line."

Meintjes finished ahead of second place Reuben Thompson and Vacek Karel in third.

"It's not the way you want to win... if there was a challenge for the break I would have been ready to fight for the stage," South African Intermarche-Wanty rider Meintjes told Eurosport.

"(What happened) is unfortunate, takes the pleasure out of it, it's maybe a victory but it doesn't feel like it.

Earlier Thursday Roglic's team-mate Lennard Kamna was in a "stable condition" in intensive care after a collision with a car during a training ride in Tenerife.

Roglic, who also fell on Wednesday in stage three but quickly recovered, was leading the overall standings from Evenepoel by seven seconds at the start of racing on Thursday.

Friday's fifth and penultimate stage is a 175.9km ride north from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Amorebieta-Etxano.

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