Bart De Clercq (Lotto-Belisol) has quit the Vuelta a España after a crash in the neutral zone of the tenth stage. His right knee sustained too serious an injury for him to continue the race. At a first check-up in the hospital of Granada, where x-rays were taken, no fractures were found.

Now De Clercq will return to Belgium where he’ll have further tests tomorrow with doctor Toon Claes in Herentals, after which the exact nature and extent of the injury will become clear. After nine stages De Clercq stood 20th in the GC at 2’33”.

“This is very bad luck,” De Clercq said. “The official start wasn’t even given this afternoon, which makes it all the more painful. Nine times out of ten you only have some abrasions and there isn’t too much damage, but now my knee must have been hit by a handlebar or a pedal. I couldn’t fold my leg anymore. I saw my knee was swollen and that I had a bruise, but I didn’t want to give up immediately. Twice I tried to get on my bike again, but I wasn’t able to make rotations. There was no need to insist.”

“The crash happened on a descending part. Although we were only in the neutral zone the speed was around 50 or 60 kilometers an hour. I didn’t see what caused the crash but suddenly riders were crashing in front of me. There was panic and everybody braked, but because of the speed it wasn’t possible to stand still. I tumbled over some riders and others bumped into me. I had hoped for a good GC and it was definitely possible to move up some places. It’s very tough that one moment has changed this. This is hard.”