UAE Tour: Adam Yates 'doesn't remember hitting the ground' after crash and concussion

Jay Vine, Mauro Gianetti and Mikkel Bjerg shed further light on fall that ruled British climber out of race with concussion, as team makes call to pull the plug

17:28, Wednesday 21st February 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

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Adam Yates and Vegard Stake Laengen in discussion during stage 3 of the UAE Tour

As UAE Team Emirates' frontrunners crossed the line on stage 3 of the UAE Tour, the first thing on everybody's minds was the health of their teammate and previous race winner, Adam Yates.

The British climber had hit the deck in violent fashion with a little under 50km to go, and later pulled out of the race on the lower slopes of the Jebel Jais climb. Visibly disorientated, Yates was consoled by team sports director Matxin Joxean Fernández and looked a sorry sight as his race came to an end.

Having initially appeared not to have undergone any concussion checks before remounting his bike after the crash, it became clear some 37km later that the only appropriate course of action was for Yates to be withdrawn from the race.

"He doesn't remember hitting the ground, so our thoughts are with him," revealed second place on the day and the UAE Tour's new overall leader, Jay Vine after the finish. "It's not the way you want to see one of your teammates leave the bike race."

Vine's teammate Mikkel Bjerg shed more light on the incident speaking to GCN just moments after crossing the finish line.

"I think it was some of these small cat-eyes, I think some rider was just not paying attention and went down in front of Adam," said Bjerg.

"He said he had a little bad headache, so Matxin said it was his decision whether he wanted to go easy. It is just really important that he listened to himself in a situation like this [and] just take care you know, it is only a bike race."

UAE Team Emirates' team principal and CEO Mauro Gianetti was on hand to congratulate Vine on his performance behind the podium, with the Australian pulling on the red leader's jersey after his second place, and the 59-year-old took a moment to discuss Yates' situation with GCN.

"He has a concussion because in the first moment, he said, 'I'm good, I'm good,' but from the car, they saw that he was not good and they asked him to stop," revealed Gianetti. "In the first moment he wanted to start again — 'no, I feel good' — but the feeling was that he had a bad shock with the head and for concussion, we said it did not make sense to continue."

The severity of Yates' crash was not seen by the UAE Team Emirates staff until much later in the stage, but as the Jebel Jais climb began to ramp up, the 31-year-old's condition became apparent.

Clearly suffering from the symptoms of a concussion, Yates asked over the radio what had happened in the crash, at which point the staff members in UAE Team Emirates' team car — Joxean Fernández and DS Andrej Hauptman — knew that the matter was serious. The Brit was then asked to stop the race.

Ninety minutes after Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) crossed the finish line as the day's winner, UAE Team Emirates issued a statement that confirmed the news of Yates' concussion.

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With Yates out of the race, UAE Team Emirates were forced to shift plans for the finale and amidst this change-up, Vine perhaps missed out on the chance to claim the stage victory for himself.

Vine misses his moment as McNulty falters

Speaking not long after he had performed a mammoth turn on the front of the peloton to defend the race lead of teammate Brandon McNulty, Denmark's Bjerg offered his thoughts on the final few hundred metres, that saw the red jersey jettisoned and Vine caught in no-man's land.

"Really bad luck for us today, but I think Jay and Brandon managed to save the day a little bit.

"When Ben [O'Connor] went, he obviously had a teammate and I said, 'Jay, you have to go now,' and actually I thought he was going to lead out Brandon, but I think when Jay went... he was patient."

A case of what might have been for Jay Vine on Jebel Jais, despite becoming the new race leader

Often a virtue in cycling, patience did not serve Vine all too well in the upper reaches of Jebel Jais. Performing the role of McNulty's right-hand man after the American's stage 2 victory, Vine made the costly decision to wait for his teammate as Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's Valentin Paret-Peintre attacked with O'Connor on his wheel.

"Hindsight is always 20/20, but the surge came [from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale] and I looked around for Brandon, and he started sliding back. Then I noticed the gap starting to go out and Mikkel came over the radio saying, 'Jay, you've got to pull, you've got to pull,'" Vine told GCN and a small group of journalists at the finish.

"I went to the front and I carried a lot of speed going past the Quick-Step guys, and just decided to keep going on with it because Brandon just kept sliding backwards. With hindsight, if I'd followed immediately... but my first reaction was to look to the leader."

Disappointed in missing out on the win, perhaps, Vine could find solace in taking ownership of the lead of the race at the end of stage 3. Admitting that the summit finish atop Jebel Hafeet on Sunday will suit him much better than Wednesday's finale, the Australian looked ahead with excitement at what is likely to become a showdown between himself and O'Connor.

"As we saw today, if you've got the legs you can make it work on 6% into a headwind. We will see what happens," he grinned.

"We've unfortunately lost Adam but at the end of the day, as long as a UAE rider has the jersey at the end of Sunday evening, that's what we are here for."

For all the important information about the 2024 UAE Tour, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub for our full preview, the race startlist and much more.