Six riders left the Vuelta a España on Thursday's stage 12, leaving only 160 riders left in the peloton.
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Hamish McKenzie (Jayco-AlUla) and Arthur Kluckers (Tudor) abandoned during the stage to Calar Alto, while three riders including Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) did not take the start.
As three weeks of racing take their toll, Grand Tours often see tens of riders abandon across the 21 days and two rest days. Riders may abandon for a variety of reasons, including crashes, injuries, illness, or simply fatigue. Riders can quit mid-stage, climbing into a team car or, in the worst case, leaving in an ambulance, or they may finish the stage but decide not to start the next one.
If a rider quits mid-stage, they are recorded as 'did not finish' (DNF), and if they fail to start a stage, it's a 'did not start' (DNS).
Commissaires or the race jury can also make riders leave the race by enforcing the rules, either with a disqualification (DSQ) for serious rule infringements or for finishing outside the time limit on a given stage (OTL). You can find out more about the time limit with our explainer.
The first abandon of the Vuelta came on the first road stage from Monaco to Manosque. Guatemalan national champion Sergio Chumil (Burgos Burpellet BH) crashed with 50km to go on stage 2.
He was joined on the DNF list by Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) on stage 3, while Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) was a DNS ahead of stage 5 following a stage 2 crash. Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Lotto-Intermarché) was a DNF on stage 5 after an early crash.
Stage 6 saw Josh Tarling (Netcompany Ineos) leave after the grief of losing his younger brother Finlay, while EF Education-EasyPost's Markel Beloki also abandoned.
Stage 8 brought carnage as Luca Van Boven's (Lotto-Intermarché) DNS was followed up by a series of crashes which took out Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma), Floris Van Tricht (NSN), Mattia Gaffuri (Picnic-PostNL), and race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Stage 9 saw three more riders abandon the race. Victor Langellotti (XDS-Astana) crashed and sustained "a head injury and abrasions to one side of his body", according to the medical bulletin. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) also did not finish the stage.
On stage 10, three riders departed the race including Ben Turner (Netcompany Ineos).
Mads Pedersen was the only rider to drop out before stage 11. The Dane had been uncharacteristically struggling and his team said he had been ill for the past few days.
Here, we will track all the 2026 Vuelta a España withdrawals as riders drop out of the race.
Vuelta a España 2026 abandons
Stage 2
- Sergio Chumil (Burgos Burpellet BH) – DNF, crash
Stage 3
- Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) – DNF
Stage 5
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) – DNS, injuries from stage 2 crash
- Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Lotto-Intermarché) – DNF, crash
Stage 6
- Markel Beloki (EF Education-EasyPost) - DNF, illness
- Josh Tarling (Netcompany Ineos) - DNF
Stage 8
- Luca Van Boven (Lotto-Intermarché) - DNS, crash on stage 7
- Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma) - DNF, crash on stage 8
- Floris Van Tricht (NSN) - DNF, crash on stage 8
- Mattia Gaffuri (Picnic-PostNL) - DNF, crash on stage 8
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) - DNF, crash on stage 8
Stage 9
- Victor Langellotti (XDS-Astana), DNF crash on stage 9
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech), DNF
- Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), DNF
Stage 10
- Ben Turner (Netcompany Ineos) - DNF
- George Bennett (NSN) - DNS
- Henri Francois Renard Haquin - DNS
Stage 11
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) - DNS, illness
Stage 12
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG) - DNF
- Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) - DNS
- Hamish McKenzie (Jayco-AlUla) - DNF
- Arthur Kluckers (Tudor) - DNF
- David Gonzalez (Pinarello-Q36.5) - DNS
- Lindsay De Vylder (Alpecin-Premier Tech) - DNS
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