He stopped to have his shoulder put back in place and had his bike stolen: Axel Zingle's ordeal in stage 2 of La Vuelta

The second stage of the Vuelta a España left one of those stories that seem taken from a movie and had the Frenchman Axel Zingle (Visma Lease a Bike) as the protagonist. The 26-year-old rider fell in a multiple crash, dislocated his shoulder twice, and to top it off his bike disappeared. Even so, he crossed the finish line and continues in the race.

Axel Zingle finished the last of the stage with two shoulder dislocations and one less bike

The incident began at the wet roundabout where several cyclists from his team, including Jonas Vingegaard, were involved in a spectacular crash. While the Dane managed to recover and end up winning the stage to take the lead, Zingle had a much more complicated fate.

“I had to stop because my shoulder popped out and I didn't know how to put it back. It had never happened to me before, so I had to ask for help from the race doctors”, he recounted to Eurosport at the end of the day, exhausted and in last position.

But the worst was yet to come. When his shoulder had already been put back in place and he was trying to resume the race, a second seemingly harmless gesture, reaching out to grab a gel, caused another dislocation. It was then that he decided to get into the ambulance to receive medical assistance. Before that, he handed his bike to a spectator who didn't speak English well and who disappeared with it.

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“When I got out of the vehicle, my bike was no longer there. I had to wait about ten minutes until the team car arrived with the spare one. At that moment, I just thought about finishing no matter what”, he explained, resigned and amused.

With more than 24 minutes lost and in 183rd place, Zingle managed to arrive within the time limit and keep his chances alive to continue in the Spanish tour.

Far from giving up, the Frenchman sent a message of strength: “I'm not going to give up. If you can climb a mountain pass with a dislocated shoulder, everything is fine. The important thing is that Jonas is okay and can keep fighting for the overall”.

At the moment, it is unknown if the stolen bike has been recovered.