Alberto Contador out of Vuelta a Espana due to injury

The Tinkoff-Saxo rider suffered a fracture to his shin bone in a heavy fall on stage 10 of this year's Tour.

After withdrawing from the race, the Spaniard conceded he faced an uphill battle to compete in his homeland from August 23.

And Contador has now admitted defeat, with complications in his recovery having delayed his bid to return to action.

In a message on his official Twitter account, the 31-year-old said: "Bad day,the wound healing gets complicated,I've no date to take the bike.Goodbye to the Vuelta."

Contador is one of several high-profile riders to have abandoned this year's Tour due to injury, together with the likes of Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Andy Schleck.

Simon Gerrans, who was involved in a collision with Cavendish on stage one, also pulled out on Wednesday.