Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) crashed on stage 10 of the Vuelta a Espana after making an audacious solo attack on the last climb of the stage to Rincón de la Victoria.
The race leader had attacked on the final part of the Puerto de Almachar and put time into all of his rivals but on the descent he slid out on a right-hand corner and came down on his side.
He was quickly able to get to his feet but was caught soon after by a chase group that included main rivals Enric Mas and Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar Team) and Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious).
At the top of the Puerto de Almachar climb, Roglic had roughly 20 seconds on his main rivals but just as Michael Storer (Team DSM) was heading to a second stage win in the race the Jumbo-Visma rider misjudged a corner and came down.
The Slovenian's attack on the climb had blown the group of GC contenders apart with Egan Bernal and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) both losing ground. They lost 37 seconds at the finish.
"Without the crash, it would have been better, but it's not too bad. There was some action, eh," Roglic said justifying his attack.
"Why not? No risk, no glory. It was good.
"I just slipped out, so I should be fine."
Mas, Haig, and Lopez caught Roglic soon after his fall, with several others also joining the group before the line, including Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana Premier Tech) and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma).
The stage saw Roglic slip out of the race lead with Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux) finishing fifth on the stage but gaining significant time after being in the break.
Roglic dropped to third overall at 2:17 and while that will not be a concern, and he will take confidence from gaining a further 37 seconds on Bernal, the fall was a timely reminder of how his current dominance remains fragile.
