Colombian climber Miguel Ángel López (Astana) abandoned the Giro d’Italia shortly after the start of the fourth stage, which joined Avola and Etna on Tuesday.
López, at the back of the pack, retired before the first hour of the race in this 172-kilometre stage. The Colombian appeared to have problems with his left hip, according to organizers.
López, 28, climbed once on the Giro podium (third in 2018), being seventh in 2019, while in 2020 he left after a fall on the first day, also in Sicily (time trial in Palermo).
Failures of ‘Superman’
‘Superman has competed 10 times in one of the three Grands and now has been the fifth retirement. He has two in the tour, two in the Vuelta a España and one on the tour.
This is the second consecutive withdrawal from the Giro for Miguel Ángel López. The first was in the first stage of 2020 and now it leaves on the fourth day of this edition.
This is the timeline:
2016: he was lined up by Astana for the Vuelta a España, but his debut was frustrated during the third stage where he suffered a heavy fall that caused facial trauma and the loss of several teeth. In stage 6, he was forced to drop out due to another crash.
In addition, on November 17, during training in Colombia, he suffered a fall that caused a serious fracture of the tibia that would finally keep him off the roads for more than six months.
2017: In the Tour of Switzerland in which he defended the title won in 2016, he had a violent fall that forced him to retire. He suffered injuries to his face and a fracture to the thumb of his right hand.
2018: In the Giro d’Italia he fell during the recce of the first stage route, a 9.7 km time trial in the streets of Jerusalem and another fall during the fifth stage. However, he made it to the final podium as third and was the best youngster.
2019: In the Giro, the Colombian cyclist got off the bike and hit a fan, who got in the way.
2020: He fell in the first stage of the Giro and retired.
2021: López withdrew from the tour de France, not starting for stage 19, after several crashes.
2021: Lopez is marked by the scandalous abandonment of the Tour of Spain, on stage 20, when he lost the endorsement of the Movistar sports directors. That cost him to break the contract with the squad that joined him for two more years.
2022: Retired on stage four of the Giro d’Italia due to a hip injury.
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