Rotten luck as Louis Meintjes crashes OUT of Vuelta with finish line in sight

South Africa’s Louis Meintjes was forced to abandon the 2021 Vuelta a Espana after a crash in Stage 19 on Friday.

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The news was particularly devastating for the 29-year-old Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux rider who had been in excellent form and was in 10th-place in the general classification heading into the stage.

A touch of wheels at high speed in the peloton saw Meintjes and James Knox go down.

While the Briton was able to continue racing, Meintjes was put in a neck brace and carried away on a stretcher.

Louis Meintjes was the second of the three South Africans to have started the race not to have completed it after Reinardt Janse van Rensburg finished outside the cut-off time in Stage 7.

Ryan Gibbons will soldier on and is in 43rd place heading into Saturday’s penultimate stage.