From crash and dislocated shoulders to bike confusion - Zingle survives chaotic Vuelta stage

The Frenchman hit the ground with 26 kilometres to go in a pile-up that also involved Vingegaard. “It was very wet because of the rain,” Zingle told Eurosport France afterwards. “We were just moving up with Jonas, who had just stopped for a nature break, when a rider in front of us went down. We weren’t even braking, but somehow we slid out as well.”

On television it looked grim as Zingle was seen trying to reset his arm in agony, but afterwards he downplayed the incident. “Unfortunately I dislocated my shoulder, and we had to put it back before I could continue. I wanted to keep riding, but since I didn’t know how to fix it myself, I had to ask for help. In the end it was nothing serious.”

Back on the bike, the chaos only continued. “Something funny happened to me,” Zingle said with a touch of self-mockery. “I tried to grab a gel from my pocket and my shoulder popped out again, so I had to stop once more.”

While stepping into the ambulance, he entrusted his bike to a man in the crowd. “He didn’t speak much English, so I just gave him my bike. When I got out, the bike was gone. I had to wait five or ten minutes for a replacement. That gave me quite a shock,” he laughed.

Zingle truly had no idea where the man had taken his bike, but later in the evening Team Visma | Lease a Bike clarified: “We’ve seen news reports claiming Axel’s bike was stolen during the second stage. This is incorrect. After the crash in today's finale, his bike ended up in the broom wagon, which was just a misunderstanding. The bike has been returned to the team.”

Despite the setbacks, Zingle remounted and rolled to the finish in Limone Piemonte, last across the line at 24 minutes behind winner Vingegaard. “Will I be able to start tomorrow? We’ll see,” he said. “But the plan is definitely to continue.”