It was expected, it is now official, Bryan Coquard will not start the 5th stage of the Vuelta. The French sprinter fell heavily on Tuesday a few kilometers before the finish of the 4th stage of the Tour of Spain. His abandonment has just been announced by his formation, Cofidis: “Bryan (Coquard) will not start the Tour of Spain this morning. He will do additional examinations on his return to France. The medical staff suspect a fractured scapula. François Bidard, who also fell, will be present at the start of the 5th stage”, indicates the team managed by Cédric Vasseur.
Given his form and with a sparse sprinter plateau, the “Coq” was among the fastest men in this 78th Vuelta, the Nazairian had a real chance of winning his very first success on a Grand Tour at 31 years old.
After his heavy fall, the tricolor was pessimistic about his chances of continuing the race. Having already fallen two days earlier on the roads of the 2nd stage arriving in Barcelona, the French sprinter fell again this Tuesday but in a much more worrying manner. While the peloton was racing towards Tarragona at full speed, the Cofidis rider was unable to avoid a fall in the heart of the peloton about 4 km from the finish. “I did a nice somersault , a good 10/10,” he explained to Eurosport after crossing the line more than eight minutes behind the winner Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
The native of Saint-Nazaire, was holding his shoulder just after his fall, he had to undergo additional examinations at the hospital on Tuesday evening to determine the severity of his injuries. “I have already broken my shoulder blade several times and I think there is a bit of damage. I’m going to spend the evening in the emergency room to see on the scanner, they’re not sure. If I will be seen again? It’s not sure, we’ll see, ”concluded very pessimistic Bryan Coquard.
