Cycling star Jonas Vingegaard won the 16th stage of the Tour of Spain on Tuesday (September 13th, 2023) and dedicated the success to his seriously injured teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck.
The Dane Vingegaard won as a soloist at the mountain finish in Bejes on Tuesday and clutched his heart shortly before crossing the finish line – an obvious sign to Van Hooydonck. The Belgian had to be resuscitated after a traffic accident on Tuesday morning and is in hospital.
Relief in the Jumbo Visma team
“I’m just happy to have won. There was terrible news, I wanted to win for my friend. Luckily there is good news”said Vingegaard.
His helper Attila Valter said: “We heard on the team radio at the bottom of the final climb that Nathan was awake and doing well. In the end everything is fine. We won the stage for Nathan, this victory is his.”
Kiss is only 29 seconds ahead
Vingegaard’s teammate Sepp Kuss continues to lead the overall standings of the Vuelta. However, the American is only 29 seconds ahead of the two-time winner of the Tour de France, who attacked on Tuesday around four kilometers from the finish. Third is Primoz Roglic, also from the Jumbo-Visma team, who is 1:33 minutes behind.
The drivers’ thoughts were with their teammate Van Hooydonck. The 27-year-old helped Vingegaard win the Tour of France for the second time in July. Citing local police, several Belgian media outlets reported that Van Hooydonck had to be resuscitated after an accident and was then taken to hospital conscious.
Three difficult climbs on stage 17
The 17th stage on Wednesday (September 13th, 2023) over 124.4 kilometers starting in Ribadesella/Ribeseya ends after three difficult climbs on the Alto de Angliru. It is the penultimate mountain stage of the Tour of Spain, which ends in Madrid on Sunday.