It had already happened to him years ago at Liège, it could have happened at any moment, but it happened with the Vuelta already in his pocket. These are the risks of the trade, particularly the trade of being an extraterrestrial, because you know that it won't be another human who will beat you, but chance, or chaos, anyway some adverse alignment of the stars.

Teddy went down hard and after the crash appears in crucifixion mode, anyone at first glance would stop him without a moment's hesitation, he's literally beaten up. More than many triumphs at the finish line, probably in terms of human sympathy this icon of fragility and suffering will be worth more. Cycling is a loyal environment, even those who root against you, faced with these facts, know how to stop and show respect.

It can always happen. It does happen. That's why they say a great Grand Tour is never truly over, not even when the Teddys have already taken them to the bank with victories and time gaps, they themselves, the Teddys, put on the record that anything can happen, the race is still long, it takes nothing to bring the house down.

That's how it is, that's how it's been a thousand times, that's how it is this time too. After all, the Teddys know that the real opponent is only this, the lucky star that at a certain point gets bored and turns against you, just for the sake of stirring the waters a bit. And there's no strategy that can help.

It must be said that lately there seems to be an almost viral form of bad luck circulating, at least in these circles of the invincibles: see Sinner who always has one, see the heroic Brignone back under the knife again, see Alcaraz himself. At those levels, the only thing that's certain is unreachable talent. But the wild variable, that no one can control, much more cunning than any rival, is always ready to set an ambush.

Dramatize? That's hardly the case. Teddy will win the Vuelta, if he wants to, whenever he wants to. And anyway this withdrawal doesn't shift by a millimeter the judgment and reputation of the greatest cyclist of all time, even if he's only halfway through his career.

Now is not the time to whine and make a big deal out of it, it's time to heal well, without unnecessary haste, and get back to work from where he left off, even if he finds himself forced to pick it up again next year. Even when you enter the shadow zone of success, even when the other side of the moon appears, the champion must be a champion: after beating all his rivals, he must beat the human temptation of pessimism and depression. A fall is cycling like the bicycle and like the climb. It's an essential part of this profession. When it comes, you have to take it and bring it home. Not serenely, I'd say, but with the right balance, using it as a stress test for your personality, your nature, your temperament. A fall can break a bone, it cannot break the spell. Sure this costs a Vuelta, but I believe the lost victory is the least of the problems. Teddy is a UNESCO heritage site, he must come back as good as new, that's all that matters. It's not one more or one fewer Vuelta that will interrupt the legend.