Tour de France: Barguil admits causing Mikel Landa's fall
Mikel Landa's tumultuous relationship with Grand Tours showed no sign of ending on stage 10 of the Tour de France, as the Basque rider lost more than two minutes following a crash during the fraught finale of splits and all-out chases.
As the echelons formed late on in the crosswinds, initially both Movistar and Team Ineos were more than satisfied, as the Spanish team, like the British, had all of their main men – Landa, Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana – ahead.
But then an untimely crash for Landa at 25 kilometres from the line, unintentionally caused by Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) whilst in the front group, suddenly saw Landa spinning out of the back and into a group of spectators. After remounting he finally latched onto a third group with former race leader Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo).
"It was a ‘shock'," Landa said in a statement released by his team. "At one moment I was on my bike, and at the very next one I was on the ground surrounded by spectators. Fortunately, I have no injuries. I was able to continue in one piece, and my teammates really helped me a lot in a difficult situation. It's 'just' a time loss – and the goal we came here for further away."
Whilst much of the local media attention centred on Thibaut Pinot's 100 seconds time loss, Landa's little group of defeated riders crossed the line even further back than the Frenchman, at 2:09 on the race leaders. As such, the Basque's Tour is by no means lost, but he has now plunged to 21st overall, 4:15 back on Alaphilippe and more than three down on Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos).
Movistar management said they believed the crash was caused indirectly by a chance touch of wheels between two riders, one of which sports director Jose Luis Arrieta initially – and incorrectly – identified as Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondial), but which Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) later admitted had been him. In struggling to regain balance after he touched wheels with race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceunink-QuickStep), Barguil accidentally swayed into Landa, who fell.
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