Ireland's Dan Martin is out of the Vuelta a Espana after a crash saw him taken to hospital on stage eight, which was eventually won by Jasper Stuyven of Belgium.
Martin had been sitting in third place overall, but abandoned the race after he was involved in a big pile-up with some 50km left, along with many other riders including American Tejay van Garderen.
"We can confirm that Dan Martin has withdrawn from La Vuelta following a crash. Has been taken to the hospital," Martin's Cannondale-Garmin said on Twitter.
More than two dozen riders were involved in the crash as the peloton moved into the outskirts of Murcia.
Leading French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni also hit the deck and pulled out, his Cofidis team said.
Belgian Kris Boeckmans, who was also involved in the crash, was taken to hospital but was conscious, his Lotto-Soudal team said.
But Stuyven capitalised on the chaos to claim the biggest victory of his career for Trek Factory Racing.
Spain's Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) took second place ahead of Frenchman Kevin Reza (FDJ) in a sprint finish after 182.5 km between Puebla de Don Fabrique and Murcia.
Colombian Esteban Chaves of Orica-GreenEDGE retained the overall leader's red jersey, fighting his way back into the main pack after being caught on the wrong end of a split following the big pile-up.
Pre-race favourite Chris Froome of Britain finished with the top guns, despite being briefly dropped during a descent, the day after losing half a minute to his main rivals.
