Giro d'Italia points classification challenger Jhonatan Narváez left the race on Friday after crashing on the way to the team bus following stage 18 the previous day.
The Ecuadorian had won three stages and was 37 points behind Paul Magnier in the maglia ciclamino battle when he left the Giro early on stage 19.
Now, his directeur sportif at UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Manuele Mori, has shed some light on what happened.
"Thursday, after the Pieve di Soligo stage, Jhonatan was a bit distracted and was checking his computer while returning to the buses," Mori told BiciSport.
"A bus in front of him braked, he didn't notice, and the impact occurred. At first, it didn't seem like anything serious, actually, just a few spasms in his neck and back, the kind that comes with a blow."
Narváez took the start of stage 19 the following day, but he was forced out of the race after 20km, having struggled with his injuries.
"He suffered from the start," Mori said. "I think partly due to the heat and the effort, and he started bleeding from his nose. He felt dizzy, probably a little scared, too, so we decided to stop him, along with the race doctors."
The team had lost Adam Yates, Marc Soler and Jay Vine earlier in the race following a mass crash on stage 2 in Bulgaria. Now, they head to the final stage in Rome with four riders – stage 5 winner Igor Arrieta, Mikkel Bjerg, Jan Christen, and António Morgado.
"I'm very disappointed and mortified because he cared about the jersey, he fought every day to bring the ciclamino home," Mori said.
"We were all very disappointed, but health is more important."
Narváez should feature in UAE's Tour de France selection, having finished 13th last year in support of Tadej Pogačar. Will he recover to make the squad this July?
"I don't know yet," Mori said.
"Matxin and the coaching staff will decide later. But surely, after some rest, he'll be ready to get back into the game."
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