Jasper Stuyven of Belgium took victory on the eighth stage of Spain’s Vuelta a Espana on a day dominated by high-profile crashes.
Ireland’s Dan Martin, who was lying third in the overall classification overnight, and American Tejay van Garderen were forced to withdraw from the race after suffering a heavy crash 50km from the finish.
Van Garderen’s BMC team later confirmed the 27-year-old has suffered a broken shoulder.
Stuyven edged a sprint finish to the line from Spain’s Pello Bilbao and Frenchman Kevin Reza to claim the 182.5km stage from Puebla de Don Fadrique to Murcia in a time of 4 hours, 6 minutes, 6 seconds.
Esteban Chaves of Columbia finished in the leading group to maintain his overall lead by 10 seconds from Tom Dumoulin, with Irishman Nicholas Roche a further 26 seconds behind in third.
Britain’s Chris Froome, who is aiming to become just the third man to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year, moved into 11th overall, 1 minute, 22 seconds behind Chaves.
One of the favorites for the stage, France’s Nacer Bouhanni, also had to withdraw due to injuries after suffering in the crash involving Martin and Van Garderen.
Stage-three winner Peter Sagan’s hopes of another victory were ruined after being hit by an auxiliary motorcycle.
The driver of the motorcycle has been banned from the rest of the tour by race organizers, but the Slovakian’s Tinkoff-Saxo team said they would not rule out taking legal action for the damage suffered.
Stuyven and Chaves were also affected by the major crash as the peloton split just before the first of two climbs of the category three Alto de la Cresta del Gallo.
“I did not stay clear of the crashes. I was in the big one which Chaves was also in before the first big climb. I hit my wrist pretty bad, but I jumped on the bike again and climbed back,” Stuyven said.
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