Jay Vine has been forced to pull out of the UAE Tour with a knee problem, a huge anti-climax for Australia's soaring cycling hope after his breakthrough summer back home.
On a day of double disappointment for the Aussie challenge in the Middle East on Wednesday, national road race champ Luke Plapp's brief lead in the overall standings at the tour was ended as world champion Remco Evenepoel took over at the top after three days of riding.
Vine had been expected to be a major force in his UAE Team Emirates outfit's home tour following the Queenslander's dazzling spell back home in which he'd won the national time trial and the Tour Down Under.
But the team revealed on Wednesday in a news release that Vine had been forced to withdraw before the third stage.
"Vine came into the race with some light knee pain from a training injury which has not improved this week. It was therefore decided to withdraw him from the event as a precaution in order to allow him time to recover," the release said.
The news is a setback for the 27-year-old, who had been one of the sensations of the 2022 European season with his two stage wins in the Vuelta a Espana and who has been in sparkling form for his new team after switching from Alpecin-Fenix to UAE Team Emirates.
Wednesday's mountain-top finish should have been right up Vine's street with UAE having both him and Adam Yates as a double-pronged force.
Instead, Evenepoel, seeking to reconfirm his pre-eminence after his world championship triumph in Wollongong last September, put in a burst at the end of the 185km third stage from Umbrella Beach Al Fujairah to Jebel Jaisto to finish runner-up behind Colombian breakaway winner Einer Rubio.
The bonus seconds he picked up helped Belgian Evenepoel overhaul Plapp as general classification leader by just seven seconds after Australia's overnight leader, riding for Ineos Grenadiers, came home fifth on the day.
Briton Yates was third on the day but is 1:12 behind Evenepoel in the overall standings in 10th place.
The next best placed Australian after second-placed Plapp is Team Jayco AlUla's Callum Scotson, who's 1:18 down in 15th place.
