Jurgen Van den Broeck has quit the Vuelta al País Vasco.

After his crash in stage one the rider never fully recuperated and especially his knee and hip were damaged.

With the wet and cold conditions and the tough stages ahead, the decision was made yesterday not to take any risks and thus Van den Broeck did not take to the starting line. The next few days he’ll focus on his recovery and afterwards he will work further on building up his condition.