Miguel Ángel López had to drop out of stage 4 of Giro d’Italia because of a hip injury. He did not sustain that injury during the race but had it prior. Reasons were still unclear when he left the race and later on it was confirmed by Team Astana Qazaqstan that the Colombian had to quit because of his left hip injury.
Astana Qazaqstan issued the following statement shortly after Miguel left the race.
🇮🇹 RACE: @giroditalia
Unfortunately, @SupermanlopezN had to abandon shortly after Stage 4 started. During the last few days he was suffering from left hip injury.
We will communicate about more info about rider statement as soon as we get more from team doctor.#Giro pic.twitter.com/C7qh76gFHt— Astana Qazaqstan Team (@AstanaQazTeam) May 10, 2022
Everything seemed perfect and stable before the same, and the fact that the Colombian had to abandon the event just on the fourth day seems like a perfectly missed opportunity. It is also quite sad to say the least, as this poses problems for Team Astana Qazaqstan.
Just in the midst of time, during the 45 minutes on the stage, Miguel abandoned the event. The route was going to take them up to Mount Etna at the end. Giro d’Italia is Miguel’s first grand tour after rejoining Team Astana. He spent 2021 with Team Movistar but this time he is back with the Astana Qazaqstan team. Even with his time with Team Movistar, his performance raised a lot of questions, he had to abandon Vuelta an España under vague circumstances. His ranking was quite high in the general classification, but he still abandoned the event, that just seems wrong.
Miguel is certainly not at his best in the Giro, as he finished Saturday’s time trial at the 59th position. Overall, he was 42 seconds behind Simon Yates, the eventual winner.
Team Astana Qazaqstan put their weight for the Giro on Miguel’s shoulders, and how he had to abandon the event. This puts the team at a general disadvantage, although Vincenzo Nibali is doing exceptionally well in this year’s Giro the question that erupts is- How long can he keep this performance up?
In prior weeks, Miguel has shown good form, that is without a doubt. The Colombian won a stage during the Tour of the Alps with an amazing performance, it is a pity and a huge blow to Team Astana Qazaqstan. On the bright side, however, riders like Joe Dombrowski and David de la Cruz will now have to fill in the shoes of their leader and maybe even earn a spot in the limelight.
Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) also suffered a knee injury during a crash at stage 4 of the Giro. Even with the injury, he has now bounced back. He is currently placed in the second position in the general classification, which is very impressive.
We hope and pray that Miguel recovers soon enough and resumes his Giro journey. It is his time to shine and it would be a real pity if he lost this chance entirely.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/Cycling Pro Net
