Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard has pulled out of next week's Tour of Catalonia following a crash in the Paris-Nice, his Visma-Lease a Bike team announced on Wednesday.
The Dane injured his hand in the fifth stage of the Paris-Nice, forcing him to abandon the race while he was running second overall.
"Jonas Vingegaard has not yet recovered sufficiently from his crash in Paris-Nice. Therefore, he will not start in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (Tour of Catalonia). We wish him a speedy recovery," his team said on X.
The 104th edition of the Tour of Catalonia will start on Monday with a first stage around Sant Feliu de Guixols.
It takes in three summit finishes and will close on March 30 with the traditional finale in the streets of Barcelona and six laps of the city’s hilly Montjuic circuit.
In the absence of Vingegaard and defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who will be concentrating on the classics season, Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe), winner of the last Vuelta a Espana and the 2023 edition of the Tour of Catalonia, is the favourite.