bad news for Bryan Coquard and the Cofidis ! Fell heavily on Tuesday a few kilometers from the finish of the 4th stage of the Tour of Spain, the French sprinter-puncher is unable to hit the road this Wednesday. His abandonment was announced a little before noon by the northern formations. “Bryan (Coquard) will not take the start of the Tour of Spain this morning. He will undergo additional examinations on his return to France. The medical staff suspects a broken scapula. François Bidard, who also fell, will be very present at the start of the 5th stage”indicates the team managed by Cedric Vasseur on his account Twitter. Appearing among the fastest men of this 78th Vuelta, the Nazairien had a real chance of winning his first success on a Grand Tour. We will have to wait until 2024 for that…
Bryan Coquard had a good Tour de France in July
Bryan Coquard was rather pessimistic after Tuesday’s stage
What bad luck for Bryan Coquard on this beginning of Tour of Spain… Already fallen two days ago on the roads of the 2nd stage arriving in Barcelona, the French sprinter had tasted the bitumen again on Tuesday, in a much more worrying way. As the peloton sped towards Tarragona, the runner of the Cofidis could not avoid a fall that occurred in the heart of the peloton about 4 km from the finish.I did a nice somersault, a good 10/10“, had explained Coquard at the microphone ofEurosport after crossing the line more than eight minutes behind the winner Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
The concern was then in order for the native of Saint-Nazaire, who had been seen holding his shoulder just after his fall and who was 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 we will see me again? It’s not sure, we’ll see“, had concluded, with defeatism, Bryan Coquardwho had unfortunately felt the blow coming…
Back to the 4th stage of the Tour of Spain
After three more than eventful days, both on and off the bike, the 4th stage of this 78th Tour of Spain rallying Andorra la Vella to Tarragona (184 km) finally allowed the sprinters to express themselves. And it’s the big favorite of the day, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who won. At the end of a tense finish, punctuated by several falls, the Australian proved to be the strongest in the finish bump and beat Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) and Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek). Having passed between the drops and finishing 13th in the stage, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) keeps his red jersey. At the level of the general classification, two changes are to be noted, since Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) and Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) were caught in a massive drop and dropped out of the top 10.