Tadej Pogačar has lost a vital teammate as he targets overall victory at the UAE Tour, with sprinter Sebastian Molano forced to quit the race after his high-speed crash during stage 1.
Illness has also hit the Visma-Lease a Bike team with sprinter Olav Kooij pulling out of the UAE Tour before Tuesday’s time trial, with domestique Julien Vermote leaving the race after just a stage.
Molano crashed in the final ten kilometres of the stage when he was sat on Pogačar’s wheel. Molano only had one hand on the handlebars at the time as he took a drink, with his team saying he hit a cat eye in the road.
Molano landed heavily in the central reservation of the wide road but managed to get up and finish the stage. However, UAE Team Emirates-XRG said he would not start Tuesday’s time trial due to his injuries.
“A follow-up revision revealed a badly sprained ankle and due to the heavy swelling and discomfort we took the decision it was best for him not to start,” Dr. Adrian Rotunno said.
“He will now travel home for further rest and monitoring.”
Kooij was expected to fight for victory in the four expected sprint finishes. He won two stages at the recent Tour of Oman after working well with new leadout man Dan McClay.
Kooij was dropped 30km from the finish of stage 1 and so did not challenge Jonathan Milan and finished 15 minutes down on the Italian.
“We knew in advance that he did not feel fit, so the main thing was to survive this stage,” directeur sportif Jesper Mørkøv said.
Visma-Lease a Bike announced Kooij would not continue in the UAE Tour before Tuesday’s time trial, without revealing the exact nature of his illness.
“Unfortunately, Olav Kooij will be leaving the UAE Tour. He has not been feeling well for a few days and needs time to recover. Heal well, Olav! See you soon!” the team said on social media.
Visma-Lease a Bike now have just five riders in the UAE Tour, with Thomas Gloag perhaps their best hope for success on the mountain finishes.
