Colombian feeling the after-effects of Roubaix crash
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Rigoberto Uran (EF-Drapac) lost time(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sep Vanmarcke leads Rigoberto Uran during stage 4 at the Tour de France(Image credit: Getty Images)
Rigoberto Uran (EF-Drapac) relieved to have avoided time loss(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Rigoberto Uran looks for the EF-Drapac team car after a crash(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Rigoberto Uran's Tour de France campaign continued to unravel after he struggled on stage 10 to Grand Bornand and lost 2:36 to his rivals. Uran now sits in 22nd place, more than seven minutes back on the yellow jersey, and is now last among the pre-race favourites.
The EF Education First-Drapac rider had already lost a large chunk of time before the rest day after crashing heavily during the cobbled stage 9. The knock-on effect would be larger than just the time given away on Sunday, with the Colombian complaining of knee and back pain during the stage. Having kept touch throughout the stage, the last hurdle proved too much, and he was dropped on the Colombiere with 14 kilometres remaining.
'No stress' has been his mantra throughout the race and, despite the losses, he still had a smile on his face and a philosophical view when he spoke to the press as he warmed down after the stage.
"I tried to be at the front, but the hit was complicated. Today, during the stage, I had a bit of pain in my back and I lost important time. We will evaluate things with the team and see what I can do and what we can do," he said.
"The truth is, I also have a pain in my knee, and during the race it was a bit worse. The rhythm was quite high. Aside from the injuries, I feel OK."
With 11 more stages still to come at this year's Tour de France, there is time for Uran to turn things around. Victory is certainly out of the window, however, given the time he's already lost to his rivals. Uran says that he's not ready to throw in the towel, but what his new ambitions will be remains to be seen.
"For sure, I will continue to race. We will see in what way we'll race tomorrow," said Uran. "When you have a hit like this, then you just have to have to see how things go."
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There will be no easier stages for Uran to recover for a few more days as the mountains come thick and fast. While Thursday brings the Alp d'Huez, Wednesday's 108km offering will be a stern test of his injuries.
"Tomorrow will be a really short, hard and explosive stage, and that's why I'll be on the rollers to see if the swelling goes down."
Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
