American rider Kevin Vermaerke inadvertently revealed that he's racing with cracked ribs during Friday's seventh stage of the Vuelta a España, talking about his injury with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG team car as a television moto lingered close by.
The 25-year-old is part of Tadej Pogačar's support squad in Spain as the Slovenian fights to add the red jersey to his palmarès, but he's fighting a personal battle during this final Grand Tour of the season.
Vermaerke could be heard saying "It's OK. I have a crack in my rib, so it hurts" while taking a bidon from the UAE car on Friday. He later finished the mountain stage to Aramón Valdelinares alongside teammate Jay Vine, 16 minutes down on winner Andreas Leknessund.
He told TNT Sports at the start of stage 8 that he suffered the injury in a crash before the Vuelta.
"I didn't know there was a TV motorbike right there, but it's just... I crashed a few weeks ago, and I have a small crack in the back of my ribs," Vermaerke said.
"But it's not anything that affects me on the bike, so it was just a joke I had with the car, and they happened to have a microphone there. But it's all good, so just a viral clip, I think, that went around last night."
He's racing the Vuelta for the second time in his career, having finished 20th overall last year. He'll battle on, he said, starting with Saturday's stage 9, a 171km ride to Xeraco featuring the late climb of the Puerto de Barx.
Sunday's stage 10 poses an even greater challenge, with 5,000 metres of elevation on the road to another summit finish, the 22km-long Alto de Aitana. Vermaerke said he's looking forward to Monday's rest day.
"I would like it to be a rest day, but at the end of the day, we still have to ride 175km, and it's never an easy day here," he said.
"So, with the wind, the roundabouts, and the climb in the final, it's not going to be an easy day. But I think the whole peloton feels the last two days in the legs, and especially with the massive day we have tomorrow, a bit of an easier day would be nice."
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