Volta a Catalunya (st. 4)
Movistar Team's road captain suffers fall in downhill of Coll de Coubet, will undergo scanner in Barcelona after early checks in Campdevànol hospital confirm pelvis fracture
Bad news came up for the Movistar Team during the Queen stage of the 2015 Volta a Catalunya, over 188km with four categorized climbs between Tona and La Molina. Pablo Lastras suffered a crash into the descent of the Coll de Coubet (Cat-1), around 90km into the route, and was forced to abandon and moved via ambulance to the Hospital de Campdevànol.
Preliminary checks on the medical center have confirmed a fracture in his pelvis, ruling out any injuries on his femur initially announced by the race doctor. Lastras, again transffered by ambulance tonight to the Hospital Quirón Teknon in Barcelona, will undergo scanner checks that definitely confirm the extent of his injuries.
Valverde takes 8th in La Molina
The final climb -preceeded by a long break where José Herrada featured prominently- witnessed a flurry of attacks into a decisive 5km where Alejandro Valverde wasn't able to respond as he would have wished. The Spaniard crossed the line in eighth place after choosing to follow his own pace against the attacks from Contador (TCS) y Porte (SKY), anticipated by an earlier move from stage winner Tejay van Garderen (BMC).
Bart De Clercq (LTS), one of the three escapees in Calella's opener, inherites the leader's jersey from Rolland (EUC) as the race's GC stays wide open, with all top-ten riders -including 'Bala', now in 4th- within just fifty-four seconds with three days to go. The Alt de Lilla (Cat-2) thus becomes a protagonist of the race on Friday's exciting finale towards Valls (195km).