Jay Vine is back! Australian climber makes return at Vuelta a Burgos four months after life-threatening crash

Jay Vine is back to racing. In April at the Itzulia Basque Country, the Australian rider was one of the many who was involved in the terrible crash that also involved Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. Four months later, the Australian is the final rider involved to make a return, he will start the Vuelta a Burgos today with UAE Team Emirates.

It is a very significant step for Vine who had shared last week a post in which he was training with teammates at altitude and was hopeful of making a comeback to racing this year. At Itzulia, he suffered three fractured vertebrae after crashing into a concrete ditch which left him in need of serious medical attention and caused him to be wearing a neck brace for six weeks. He missed the Giro d'Italia where he was planned to race. A Vuelta a España return would depend on the form he will show this week in Burgos, which includes the summit finish to Lagunas de Neila.

The seriousness of his injuries were well detailed by his wife Bre: "I will admit when I saw the live coverage of him just lying there not moving for such a long time, I genuinely wasn’t sure if I still had a husband and if the worst had happened". The Autralian will link up with sprinter Alvaro Hodeg, Ivo Oliveira and Belgian development team rider Duarte Marivoet.

Vine may, if he has good form, aim for the overall classification in a race that features that summit finish and a 18-kilometer time-trial. Rafal Majka, Finn Fisher-Black and Igor Arrieta are also options for the overall classification in the five-day stage-race.

UAE Team Emirates for Vuelta a Burgos:

Igor Arrieta
Finn Fisher-Black
Alvaro Hodeg
Rafal Majka
Ivo Oliveira
Jay Vine
Duarte Marivoet