Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Easy Post) will end his professional cycling career not “with a bang,” but with “solemnity.” The 37-year-old Uran, who had planned to retire at the end of the season, crashed on stage 6 of the Vuelta a España and broke a bone in his hip, his team announced.

He crashed on Thursday's 181-km stage from Carrefour to Junquera in Jerez de la Frontera and did not finish the race.

After being assessed by the medical staff, the team announced Uran's misfortune.

“X-rays revealed a fracture in the greater trochanter of the left hip,” the team posted on social media. 'No surgery is required and he will be recuperated at home. We did not want to see Rigo's last dance.

In February, Uran confirmed that 2024 would be his last season as a professional athlete and said he wanted to compete in the Paris Olympics before ditching his bike, but was not selected by Colombia.

“I am afraid of retirement and crashing,” Uran told Canal RCN earlier this year. 'Life has an end, but retirement scares me a lot. High-performance athletes live in a bubble.

“I'm also scared of crashing and watching my family suffer. It's hard to watch your family suffer.”

“Actually, I'm already too old for this sport.

Thursday's Vuelta stage may be the last we see of the injured Uran in the peloton. Uran has a long memoir that includes a silver medal in the London Olympics road race, stage wins in all three Grand Tours, two podiums in the Giro d'Italia (2013, 2014), and one in the Tour de France (2017).

Uran's team presentation opened the door for him to participate in other races after the Vuelta, but his broken bones could well extend his rehabilitation until the end of the season, which closes with the Tour of Guangxi on October 20.

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