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BMC Racing Team's Karsten Kroon overshot a turn on a high speed descent Saturday and crashed into a heavily wooded area 30 meters below, breaking his left forearm and ending his Vuelta a España.

Crash Unseen
Kroon had been riding in an 18-man breakaway when the mishap happened just after the group crested the summit of the Puerto de la Ventana, 111 kilometers into the 175.8 km race. BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue, who was following the breakaway but several cars back in the caravan, said no one saw Kroon and two others go off the narrow road. "We understand it happened in a curve, a left one, which was looking dangerous," Lelangue said. "In fact, I informed (BMC Racing Team Assistant Director) Rik Verbrugghe it was dangerous. So I remember well passing there. There was nothing on the ground – no bike, no bottles and no spectators. So no one could inform us that something had happened."

Second Mishap This Year
Kroon said he doesn't remember much about the crash because he lost consciousness. "I remember two guys who more or less attacked on the descent," Kroon said. "They both crashed and I think I came around the turn and they were there, or somebody was there. I don't remember." Kroon's injuries are limited to his fractured left forearm, BMC Racing Team Doctor Giovanni Ruffini said. Earlier this season, Kroon broke his left collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Flanders. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis-Le Credit En Ligne) soloed to win Saturday's stage while Ivan Santaromita was the BMC Racing Team's first finisher (65th, 20:23 back). Overall, Bradley Wiggins (Sky Pro Cycling) kept the lead.

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PONFERRADA, Spain (Reuters) -- Switzerland's Michael Albasini won the 13th stage of the Tour of Spain from Sarria to Ponferrada on Friday while Britain's Bradley Wiggins retained the overall lead for a third day.

Second behind the HTC-Highroad rider in the small bunch sprint that decided the 158.2 km mountainous stage was Italy's Eros Capecchi, with Spain's Dani Moreno in third.

Albasini was part of a 27 man breakaway that took off in the first hour of racing. Wiggins finished in the main pack around one minute 30 behind.

The Tour of Spain finishes on Sept. 11 in Madrid.

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TALAVERA DE LA REINA, Spain (Reuters) - Up-and-coming German sprinter Marcel Kittel's first victory in a Grand Tour was overshadowed by a mass pileup in the final kilometre of the Tour of Spain's 182.9-km seventh stage on Friday.

Italians Vincenzo Nibali, last year's race winner, and Michele Scarponi, Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez and Belgian Juergen Van Den Broeck fell in a crash caused when American Tyler Farrar collided with fellow sprinter Michal Golas of Poland.

One of the worst affected was 2011 Tour de France stage winner Farrar. He was unable to put any weight on his left foot and pedalled with one leg as he crossed the line.

He then clutched his left hip and needed to be held up by two Garmin-Cervelo team mates as he limped to a waiting ambulance.

Most of the riders involved suffered minor injuries but Scarponi shouted in pain when doctors attempted to touch his left ankle while Nibali had a nasty scrape on his left thigh.

Overall leader Sylvain Chavanel of France and 22nd-placed Briton Bradley Wiggins were two overall contenders not affected by the crash which took place so close to the line all those involved were awarded the same time.

Skil-Shimano rider Kittel said he was too far ahead in the bunch to even hear the crash as he powered to his 13th victory of the season, ahead of Slovakian Peter Sagan and Spain's Oscar Freire.

"I only found out about the crash when I crossed the line," first-year professional Kittel, 23, told reporters. 

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Córdoba, Spain

Vuelta a España, Stage 6: Kohler Most Aggressive

Martin Kohler of the BMC Racing Team earned the Vuelta a España's most aggressive rider honors Thursday while teammate Mathias Frank survived a crash and Johann Tschopp withdrew due to fatigue.

Kohler: 'Won't Be The Last Time'

Kohler was part of a four-man breakaway that gained as much as an eight-minute lead. With the gap to the chasing pack down to a minute and only 31 kilometers left in the 193.4 km race, Kohler ventured off alone. He was caught five kilometers later. "I was trying the whole day to make the breakaway," he said. "Unfortunately, we were only four riders and not the strongest ones from the peloton. But it's a three-week race and there are more days to come. So it won't be the last time I'm in the breakaway." Frank crashed after 70 kilometers when an official motorbike couldn't make a sharp right turn. "I went down on my hip and elbow and it hurt pretty bad at the beginning, but as I kept riding, it got better," Frank said. Peter Sagan led a 1-3-4-5 finish for Liquigas-Cannondale while Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep) kept the overall lead.

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23-Aug-2011 :  Today an extraordinary Sylvain Chavanel is wearing the red jersey as the leader in the Vuelta at the arrival placed more than 2100 metres above sea level on Sierra Nevada.

The champion from Quick-Step Cycling Team completed a masterpiece of tactics and determination, managing to dole out some left over energy after his fantastic performance in yesterday’s stage, maintaining a 43” advantage in the general classification over the second place rider, Daniel Moreno, who won today’s stage.

“I came to this Vuelta highly motivated,” explained an exhausted but radiant Chavanel after the arrival. “I think I proved that both today and yesterday. Today along the climb to Sierra Nevada I saw that Lastras didn’t have a great pedal push. I knew that if I could make it past the first part of the climb I could be the leader. I counted the kilometres to go to the top, I couldn’t let a chance like that get away. For me it’s a great feeling. In 2008 I’d already worn this jersey, but this year after the bad luck I had in the Tour it has a different meaning. I’m going to try to defend it and honour it, like I always have. Tomorrow there are going to be some difficult passages but I’m going to give it my all. I had a tough Tour de France but luckily I have the capacity to turn the page quickly. I know I can have a good end of the season and even make it to the World Championships in great shape. First though, there’s the Vuelta and a jersey to honour in the best way possible.”

The team’s great day was completed by Seeldraeyers’ 10th place in the general classification, 1’04” from his team mate Chavanel.

“We’ve gotten off to a great start at the Vuelta” Seeldraeyers says. “Today my legs weren’t bad at all. I’m happy to be in the top 10, even though the road to Madrid is still long and hard. However, I’m going to try to defend this position in these next days, I’m in good shape and there will be lots of climbs in the next stages.”

General classification after stage 4

1 Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)

2 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) 43’’

3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) 49’’?

4 Maxime Monfort (Bel) 49’’

5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) 53’’

10 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel)

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Team Katusha was the protagonist of "Vuelta a Espana" fourth stage, the first with a climbing arrival in Sierra Nevada: after the long breakaway, 160 kms, by Eduard Vorganov, Daniel Moreno took the win, while the leader Joaquim Rodriguez was at the finishing line with the main group, missing the podium for a mere nothing and closing 4th, 11'' far from the teammate. The crucial part of the stage was with 4 kms to go: once today breakaway ended, Sorensen (Saxo Bank) tried to attack. Moreno replied to the Danish rider and, thanks to a peremptory rush in the last km, took a solo win, the first in his career in the most important Iberian competition. Thanks to this performance, the Team Katusha rider from Madrid is now second in general classification, 43'' far from the new leader Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step). 

"I'm so happy with this beautiful win - says Moreno at the finishing line - I felt in a great shape this morning, I knew I could make a great performance also because the stage course was very suitable to my characteristics. Before going to catch Sorensen I talked with out leader Rodriguez: he was persuaded I had many chances to win toda, because I'm faster than the Danish rider. I stayed in the main group since Joaquim hasn't told me to go. Obviously, despite I did several step forward in general classification, my job is still to help our leader to win the general classification: i think 'Purito' and me form a great couple, we've really savvied, so I'm sure we can reach more brilliant results in this Vuelta".

"We're a fantastic group - says Rodriguez - This is a prize for everyone of us. We don't even need to talk: everyone of us savvy each other. As for me, today too I had some good feelings, even if I have to admit I suffered this hot weather. I was waiting for the first climbing arrival in order to test my shape: I think today everything was perfect".

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Only an extraordinary Pablo Lastras could steal today the joy of victory from Sylvain Chavanel. The French champion scored second place in this challenging stage from Petrer to Totana, made all the more gruelling by the terrible heat that's been a constant in this Vuelta. For his excellent performance today Chavanel won the prize for combativeness. 

Sylvain Chavanel 
"Today I had a great race. I spurred the break right from the start. I knew that with this heat it would be hard for the group to stay in control. We collaborated really well until the last climb. At 600 metres from the top of Alto de la Santa Lastras took off. I couldn't follow him because I was starting to get cramps. On the slight rise towards the arrival I gave it everything I had to catch up to Lastras. However there wasn't much collaboration with Pidgornyy and Irizar. When we got to within 9 seconds from Lastras with only 3 km to go to the finish line we started sizing each other up and Lastras gained a few seconds advantage. It wasn't up to me to do all the work to catch up. I wanted to win the stage and often in order to win you have to risk losing. I gave it everything I had, I couldn't have done more. Anyway, I'm happy with my form, I feel good and I'm going to try again. Congratulations to Pablo. He was the strongest today and he's a great rider."

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Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen won in the Eneco Tour in perfect fashion with an emphatic victory on the final stage on Sunday to complete a clean sweep of the overall jerseys.

 

The Norwegian, winner of two stages at the Tour de France, had continued his superb form throughout the seven-day race and he was once again given impressive support by his team-mates.

 

They repelled all attacks on the 201.2 kilometres stage around Sittard-Geleen, meaning that the field was together heading towards the finish before Boasson Hagen rounded things off in style.

 

Coming round the final corner he was just behind Jürgen Roelandts but the Omega Pharma-Lotto man crashed in front of him and Boasson Hagen then had daylight between himself and the rest and was able to ease up before the line and still win by around five bike lengths.

 

Manuel Cardoso (RadioShack) was second, with Lars Boom (Rabobank) rounding off the podium places in third.

 

In terms of the overall, Boasson topped the standings by 22 seconds from Gilbert, with a further six seconds back to David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo). It was his second Eneco Tour title, having won the event in 2009.

 

The points jersey and the young rider's jersey were also both claimed by Boasson Hagen, with the team prize going Team Sky's way too.

 

Afterwards Boasson Hagen was quick to pay tribute to his team-mates, saying: "We had a good plan today and with [Juan Antonio] Flecha getting in the break it allowed us to sit back, conserve energy for later and let other teams do the work.

 

"Then we controlled the second half of the race and I'm really thankful for all the team's support, they did a perfect job again.

 

“It’s been really good the whole week; we’ve grown a lot as a team from last year and it's fantastic to see."

 

Boasson Hagen managed to avoid the late crash coming into the finishing straight and he added: "I looked behind me and saw the other guys on the floor which wasn’t nice but it’s good they are okay and I’m really happy that I was able to pick up a stage win as well.

 

"I've also got to mention Geraint Thomas who did the longest lead-out ever in the final three kilometres!"

 

That team ethic was also underlined by Team Principal Dave Brailsford who said: "The time trial performance on Friday was a fantastic ride from Edvald but he won the overall not only because he was the strongest rider but also because he had the strongest team behind him as they've demonstrated this weekend.

 

"They neutralised everything again today and did a fantastic job. I think it’s another indication of the steps forward the team has made this year. That was a big goal at the start of the season and it’s proving to be exactly what’s happening so we’re very, very happy."

 

Not surprisingly Sports Director Servais Knaven was equally delighted with the team's display as he said: “That was a perfect day - it was a really good, strong performance from the whole team.

 

“Flecha got in the early break and he was best-placed on the GC in that group which was great. It meant he didn’t have to ride in the breakaway while the other guys didn’t have to chase in behind. It was up to the other teams to close the gap and that’s what happened which was ideal.

 

“And then at the final we had seven riders which put us in a great position to control it. They were strong all week and so motivated – when you come to the final with seven riders you’ve got so much morale and so much going for you. It was very hard for anyone to get away."

 

It all set up Boasson Hagen for the final flourish and Knaven was especially pleased to see him add a stage victory to his overall title, adding: “It was great for Edvald to win today – he’d tried twice to win earlier sprint stages and also went close in the time trials. To do it today in the leader’s jersey is especially nice and the perfect way to end the week." 

 

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Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen maintained his overall lead at the Eneco Tour as Matteo Bono (Lampre-ISD) won the fifth stage after a three-man break just stayed clear.

 

The penultimate stage of the race, a 189.2 kilometres route starting and finishing in Genk, saw Boasson Hagen successfully defending a lead of 12 seconds in what proved a fascinating tactical battle.

 

The escape group held off the main pack by just six seconds, with Bono edging out Sergey Renev (Astana) and Artem Ovechkin (Katusha).

 

All the overall contenders came in together, meaning that Boasson Hagen retains his 12 seconds GC advantage over Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), with David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) still 18 seconds back in third and Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) now 25 seconds down in fourth.

 

Boasson Hagen not only keeps the overall lead but also continues to head the other two classifications - the red points jersey and the young rider's green jersey.

 

There is still plenty of work to do as the race comes down to the wire in Holland on Sunday over a 201.2km route around Sittard-Geleen. A whole series of short, sharp climbs - no fewer than 22 - await the riders as the day covers much of the ground of the Amstel Gold Race.

 

That was underlined by Team Sky Sports Director Servais Knaven who said: "Many of the climbs are the same but potentially the crucial difference is that Amstel finishes on the Cauberg whereas we pass the Cauberg with 60k to go tomorrow.

 

"And those 60k are probably among the easiest kilometres of the whole stage. So the hardest part is in the middle before it flattens out a bit. It’s going to take a lot of energy to control the race tomorrow but the final looks a little bit easier so we have to try and have enough riders for those last 60 kilometres.

 

"They all did a big effort today – especially Christian [Knees] and Mathew [Hayman] who did an excellent job – but everyone is incredibly excited and motivated to make sure we bring home the jersey tomorrow. That’s our one goal and we’ll be going 100% for that."

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BMC Racing Team's Taylor Phinney crept a bit closer to the lead Saturday at the Eneco Tour of Benelux, taking two seconds in a bonus sprint early in the rainy stage in which he scored his fifth top 10 finish in six days.

Familiar Territory For Kroon
With one stage to go, Phinney is seven seconds behind third-placed David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo) and 25 seconds behind race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Pro Cycling). Phinney finished 10th in the 189.2 kilometer stage won in a two-up sprint by Matteo Bono (Lampre-ISD). Teammate Karsten Kroon, who trains frequently on the roads of the course, hoped his knowledge would help Phinney gain time with 30 km to go. "We were on a big road where it takes a sharp turn into a small road that's very winding before you hit the top where it's wide open," Kroon said. "It would have been a great place to split the field, but we were unlucky because there was no wind. Otherwise the field would have totally split." Sunday's final 201.2 km stage follows many of the same roads used in the Amstel Gold race. BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Rik Verbrugghe said: "If it's bad weather and raining, it could be a hard day tomorrow."