“It could have been a lot worse” – Battered and bruised Tim van Dijke soldiers on at the Vuelta

Tim van Dijke has endured a rough opening to the 2025 Vuelta a España after being one of the riders badly affected by the stage 2 crash. While Jonas Vingegaard, several Visma teammates, and Tom Pidcock walked away with relatively minor injuries, the Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe rider suffered more serious damage. The 25-year-old from Goes, who joined Red Bull from Visma at the start of the season, is contesting his second Grand Tour after making his debut at the 2024 Giro.

Speaking to In de Leiderstrui, Van Dijke admitted the crash could have been far worse. "I'm actually still in pretty good shape, because it could have been a lot worse," he said. A lamppost at the side of the road proved decisive in his case. "I hit it head-on, so I really felt that. I really couldn't ride the bike and needed a lot of time to reach the finish." He described the remainder of the stage as “very painful,” underlining how much he had to endure just to cross the line.

Remarkably, he still lined up the next day. "My thigh muscle is the one that's bothering me the most; I came to a complete stop on that, and a muscle like that doesn't give way, of course. I've had ultrasounds and everything, and there's no major damage, but there is a large bruise in that muscle. It's badly bruised, but I'm glad it's not worse than that."

Despite the setback, Van Dijke has tried to stay pragmatic about the days ahead. "You encounter these kinds of things in a Grand Tour, so now it's mainly about looking at what we can do. I'm glad I didn't break my hip, so day 3 will mainly be about getting back into the swing of things on the bike, and then we'll work from there." Stage 4 may provide an opportunity if his condition improves, but the bigger question is whether his recovery will come quickly enough to compete at his best.