Caja Rural-Seguros RGA remained determined to fight on in the 2026 Tour de France, but they recognised that losing former yellow jersey Fernando Gaviria to a mass crash on stage 12 constituted a major setback.
The team had already lost one rider, Alex Molenaar, on stage 5 into Pau after he fell and fractured a finger in another late crash, and a week later, Fernando Gaviria will now be unable to continue.
The 2018 Tour de France leader and double stage winner went down around 400 metres from the finish when the veteran Colombian and a Bahrain Victorious rider touched wheels.
Gaviria fell heavily, and although he was able to finish, supported by teammate Stefano Oldani, both he and French racer Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos) went to the Tour's medical vehicles for a checkup later on.
When Gaviria finally emerged with his left shoulder heavily bandaged, he did not talk to reporters, saying simply 'C'est la vie' [That's life] in French before getting into a team car.
"They were going very fast at that point, and the fall was a very heavy one," José Miguel Fernández, sports director, told Cyclingnews later.
"It's a real pity, if anyone really made us dream of doing something big in this Tour, it was him, and apart from the results in a sprint, he was a key rider for bringing the team together here in the Tour."
The fall was so hard, Fernández said, that Gaviria broke his helmet, "but he seems to be OK, his head's all right, but he's got a lot of cuts and bruises. The big thing, though, was his collarbone."
"I talked to him from when he fell to when we got to the bus," added teammate and leadout man Stefano Oldani in a team press release, "and I could tell he was really not in a good place. He really hit the ground hard and he told me how much his collarbone hurt."
As Fernández pointed out to Cyclingnews only last weekend, having a hugely experienced Tour rider like Gaviria amongst their lineup was critical for his teammates. For a wildcard squad like Caja Rural making their debut in the Tour, it is an important race for its sponsor. The team had been in the race back in the 1980s, but the team structure itself is comparatively recent.
From here on, despite the setbacks, we will keep fighting, Fernández said, "and the coming days are good for breakaways as well."
"We're all motivated, determined to be up there, and for the sprints we'll be looking to Oldani to see what he can do, even if he's not as fast as Fernando, he knows how to sprint as well. Day by day, and we'll see what we can do."
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