Vuelta a Espana: Remco Evenepoel crashes into fan after stage three win

Remco Evenepoel celebrates with a bottle of champagne after winning stage three of the Vuelta a Espana

Remco Evenepoel suffered a bleeding cut above his right eye from crashing into a fan after winning stage three of the Vuelta a Espana.

Defending champion Evenepoel outpaced Jonas Vingegaard in a sprint finish but collided with the spectator shortly after crossing the finish line.

The incident follows torrential rain which had affected stages one and two of the race.

“Some things [are about] safety,” said Belgium’s Evenepoel, 23.

“It [the crash] was only 50 metres after the finish line and it’s the third day in a row [there have been problems].”

Thunderstorms meant the opening stage of the Grand Tour was littered with crashes in slippery conditions, while stage two was partially suspended, with general classification times taken nine kilometres before the finish.

Evenepoel, who rides for Soudal-QuickStep, took the red jersey for his stage three-winning performance, in which the race exited Barcelona to head into the Pyrenees mountains, before ending up in Andorra for a summit finale.

The Belgian dominated the finish, crossing the line a second ahead of back-to-back Tour de France winner Vingegaard of Denmark.

Juan Ayuso was third with thee-time Vuelta winner and reigning Giro d’Italia champion Primoz Roglic in fourth.

“I felt super good on the final climb with a long but very strong sprint so I’m super happy with this stage win,” added Evenepoel.

“I felt I had a big punch still in my legs. I’m gonna enjoy the red jersey. It’s a beautiful victory here in Andorra, at high altitude.

“It shows my preparation was good and that I’m ready for the next three weeks.”

Evenepoel is five seconds ahead of Spain’s Enric Mas overall, while France’s Lenny Martinez is third, 11 seconds behind.