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news
Contador abandonsUpdated: Alberto Contador out of Tour de France - after riding 18km with broken leg
UPDATED: Alberto Contador has abandoned the Tour de France this afternoon - after riding 18 kilometres with what turns out to be a broken tibia in a desperate attempt to remain in the race. The Spaniard pulled out of today's Stage 10 with around 80 kilometres left to ride after a heavy crash earlier on as he descended in the wet.
In a statement issued this evening, his manager at Tinkoff-Saxo, Bjarne Riis, said: “Alberto crashed on a fast and straight part of the descent. He was reaching for his pocket and the bike was swept away under him probably because of a bump or hole in the road.
"Alberto was in the shape of his life and the entire team had our eyes fixed on the podium in Paris and the work we would have to do to get there.”
Some riders who saw Contador crash gave their own version of what had happened. According to a tweet from Danish journalist Mikkel Condé, Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang said: “Contador took a big risk. On a descent with bad asphalt, he passed us, went 10-15 km/h faster. 1k later he fell on his ass."
Meanwhile, the Dutch journalist and commentator José Been said on Twitter that Lotto-Belisol’s Jurgen Van den Broeck had told Sporza: "It was Contador's own fault. He stepped on the pedals to overtake and rode in a hole."
Following the crash, which happened with around 100 kilometres still to ride of the 161.5 kilometre stage from Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles, the Tinkoff-Saxo rider waited as the race doctor strapped his right knee.
He also had tears to the left hip of his bibshorts as well as the rear of his jersey, and seemed to be in pain from a wrist injury.
Ironically, given the vast media presence at the Tour nobody was pointing a camera in Contador's direction when he crashed. Social media rushed to fill the void, rumours swept the Twitterverse that the frame of Contador's Speicalized had broken in the impact. Certainly a picture from AFP, tweeted by Telegraph Sport journalist John MacLeary shows a bike with the Spanish rider's frame number clearly snapped both on the downtube and where the top tube meets the seatpost.
New photo just dropped in from AFP of broken bike which is definitely Alberto Contador's - see mounted race No 31. pic.twitter.com/1xyy1ww0Ay
— John MacLeary (@JohnMacLeary) July 14, 2014
However, some claimed that the picture is of Contador's spare bike, said to have fallen from his team car's roof rack and then have been run over by another vehicle, Dutch website Nusport.NL was later reported to be quoting Belkin's team manager Meerijn Zeeman as saying that a Tinkokff Saxo bike did fall land on a Belkin team car after bikes became entangled following a close pass from a Tinkoff - Saxo car, he doesn't appear to mention any damage though.
To further add to the fog of rumour and counter-rumour, Danish television channel TV2 says Contador was actually riding a bike lent to him by Nicolas Roche following an earlier crash - and pictures of the bike beside the rider at the roadside as the doctor treated him suggest that one was undamaged.
The picture cleared only somewhat during the evening when Specialized released a statement wishing Contador a speedy recovery and pulling together all the strands of information available to them about the crash.
"All of us at Specialized are devastated to see Alberto Contador withdraw from the Tour. He is a true champion with the heart of a warrior and he had a great chance at Yellow this year. We have spoken to Alberto's brother as well as his personal mechanic (Faustino Muñoz) and the mechanic who was at the scene (Rune Kristensen), and contrary to some early, unconfirmed reports, frame failure was not involved in Alberto's incident today. Nicolas Roche was involved in a separate incident today and while his bike was laying on the road it was run over by a car causing it to break, potentially giving rise to the initial inaccurate reporting. Live race reporting is difficult and sometimes mistakes are made. We are continuing to research the events of today and will share any further details as we learn more."
However, the bike pictured in John MacLeary's tweet clearly bore Contador race number - 31, not Roche's and is certainly not Roche's first choice bike he's on the new McLaren Tarmac SL which has a distinctive paint job (see pic below) - and at $15,000 a pop isnt' the sort of bike you'd want to make a habit of running over
.
Yet another version of events was supplied to Cyclingtips.com - who were told that the bike pictured was indeed Contador's but was his spare (and yes, his mechanic was enough of a perfectionist to have a race number on both of Contador's bike). The spare had been inadvertently run over by the team car after the mechanic got it down for Contador, at which point point presumably Contador was given Roche's bike instead.
Following the crash Contador, clearly in pain, eventually remounted with a 5 minute deficit on the group he had been riding with including his chief rival for the overall victory, Astana's Vincenzo Nibali, who went on to win today's stage at La Planche des Belles Filles and is back in the race leader's yellow jersey.
“After the crash, Alberto got back on the bike and we tried for about 18 kilometres to keep him in the race," continued Riis. Despite his best efforts and an impressive show of willpower, he had to abandon the race.
The rider was taken to the finish in the team car and his leg was x-rayed, revealing the fracture, as Riis explained: “Alberto has broken his tibia just below the knee. It’s not a complicated fracture but it probably requires surgery. He will stay with us tonight and tomorrow he will travel back to Madrid to undergo further examinations and a surgery if necessary."
His absence from the race means that there are now no former winners left in this year's Tour de France after Andy Schleck and Chris Froome abandoned last week. The Team Sky rider was quick to tweet his commiserations to Contador.
Big loss for the TDF today. Recover well @albertocontador & I hope to see you at the Vuelta.
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 14, 2014
However, Riis made it clear that it's premature to talk about when Contador might return to racing. “We will naturally have to look ahead," he said. "But right now it’s to early to say anything about the possibility of Alberto riding Vuelta a Espana. It depends on his recovery and on how fast he can get back on the bike and start training again”,
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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76 comments
I literally laughed out loud when I saw that. There weren't any broken Boardman bikes in the first week, were there?
"Just going to swipe this whilst everyone is distracted and then I'll...Balls! There is a cameraman, erm, hide it behind my back and walk away, just walk away".
Everything was just so odd.
Class.
I'm not so sure.... Without all the talk of broken frames you would just read "his bike was broken" as standard damage after a crash, not a destroyed frame....
Reading that was quite heart breaking, I wasn't a fan of Contador & initially I was pleased that he had crashed out but after reading Nico's report of the day you really understand the pressures that these guys go through.
I salute Contador for his effort in trying to rejoin the race & I'm sorry that he has left the Tour. watching him pass group after group with Nico & his other team mates whilst riding with a fractured leg is inspiring, Whatever the reason he crashed I'm sure he will be missed.
Whilst I like the theory - the bike in the photo is a clean bike, and does not look like it has done 60K in the wet.
I know if I do 60k in the wet, then there will be lots of dirt splattered up the back of the seat tube, and across the seat stays and forks... the bike in the shot does not show any of this.
Which either means that the roads in France are much cleaner then round here (possible), or the mechanics were polishing it up while bertie was being tended to by the road - or its not the bike he was riding.
The seat is also out of alignment - not something you would expect in a crash - but it does lend credence to the 'run over by a car' story.
gotta love an internetz comments mystery
Here's a precis of the greatest unsolved mystery of our time:
Specialized, Tinkoff-Saxo’s bike sponsor, initially denied reports that Contador’s bike had broken at all, either resulting in or as a result of the crash, or via some other externality. The company first stated that a bike had fallen off the roof of a car. That story was then amended — it still involved a car, but instead stated that Nicolas Roche’s bike had been run over earlier in the stage. This broken bike was the start of the rumors, it said.
“We have spoken to Alberto’s brother as well as his personal mechanic (Faustino Muñoz) and the mechanic who was at the scene (Rune Kristensen), and contrary to some early, unconfirmed reports, frame failure was not involved in Alberto’s incident today. Nicolas Roche was involved in a separate incident today and while his bike was laying on the road it was run over by a car causing it to break, potentially giving rise to the initial inaccurate reporting,” the original statement read.
But the photos do not lie. Contador is #31, and his race number is on the broken frame. The Roche incident relayed in this statement may be entirely factual, but it is clear that Contador’s bike broke as well.
Specialized later corrected itself again, stating that Contador’s bike that had been run over as well. A source within the team who was present at the scene of the crash explained that Contador’s mechanic, Faustino Munoz, grabbed his backup bike off the roof, then, seeing the condition of Contador, rushed to his aid, leaving the bike against the team car. The team car drove off and crushed the bike. Photos were taken, and the broken bike story took off.
The alternative potential explanation, of course, is that Contador’s bike broke on impact with a large pothole.
Source:
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/07/news/timeline-details-alberto-con...
If that was the bike he crashed on, what did he do for the next 18km hold the front end to the back end whilst also riding with a broken tibia?? Come on use your heads haha
Wow.
To be honest - the frame is rather clean for a bike which is supposed to have been ridden in the wet..
20kms with a broken leg? Immense...
It is pretty simple. Contador wasn't on his 31 bike when he crashed. Look at the pictures BEFORE he got medical attention. It was Roche's bike beside him. If you watched it live, you will know that NO riders waited behind with him.
He was riding Roche's bike after an earlier mechanical or crash and it was Roche's bike he crashed on. That is it sitting behind him in the picture without the bandage on his knee. If you see the picture where he is changing his shoe, He's jumping on his spare bike.
Bjarne Riis says Contador was reaching into his pocket and the bike was just 'swept from under him'. How very vague. Simon Clarke was right behind him and saw the crash but won't give details.
Edited to add: Riis' TV interview just then contradicts his Sky one. Now he says his hand slipped on the handlebars due to him being on Roche's bike following a different crash.
Van Den Broek says he hit a pothole.
The plot thickens.
Is Murray Walker now commentating on the Tour?
"And here they come. All [insert name] has to do is keep riding to win this years Tour! Oh no! What am I saying? He's crashed! He's crashed!"
Everyone left in the peloton tonight will be praying "Please God. Don't let them make me the favourite!"
At this rate the Vuelta is going to be insane. There will be so many riders trying to rescue their season, it's going to be an epic. Can't wait, I've already fitted the easy chair with a seatbelt.
After Wiggins/Froome. Is this the Tour that changes how a Director Sportif views having 2 stars in a team? 2 GC casualties to crashes and if you look beyond retirements to lost time (Talansky and even Van Garderen is bandaged up) then resilience looks to be more important than anyone thought at the start of the Tour.
I'm looking forward to see who gets to show their worth in a more open tour. Maybe Nick Roche for a stage win now Tinkoff-Saxo have no hope of GC?
What a tour
Contador...ucking follox gastards... That's 20 quid down the pan for the win! Pre tour bet.
Nibbles to lose as has been said, but Porte?? Like they say, every cloud... It looks like he has a double silver lining.
you'd have to hit something very hard to break a Tarmac frame, whether the new model or the older SL4, SL3, SL2
I dealt with numbers of "warranties" at two Concept Stores in the UK and most were resolved as crash replacement deals as the rider had ridden into something stationary at speed, or been run over by a car
Specialized are not particularly light in the scheme of road bike frames, they have always erred on the side of caution rather than going stupid light
I think it's far more likely that the frame simply buckled under the weight of 5'6", 60kg Alberto Contador, and that you're a corporate shill to be defending it.
Another rumour is he hit a pot hole which caused him to go down and he's knacked his patella. Nothing to do with the bike.
So the anti-Specialized tirade continues. I'm biased - I ride Specialized, but seriously, any frame can have issues no matter who the manufacturer is.
And of course, it turns out the frame didn't snap at all... so all that excitement about nothing.
Are you sure about that? pic.twitter.com/1xyy1ww0Ay
The moment he went down people were saying that his frame had snapped.
I'd love somebody to analyse what the odds are of people seeing something that makes them come to that conclusion on the exact same day that his spare bike happened to fall off the team car and break in the same fashion that people thought the bike he was using happened to break in.
Seems a bit too coincidental for me, but sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.
The picture editor's budget must be running out if road.cc is reduced to taking photos of the telly!
It does seem now that the broken bike fell off the team car roof, and wasn't anything to do with the crash. The BBC is saying that Contador suffered a broken tibia.
great shame, was looking forwards to Contador vs Nibali, oh well, nibali to win!!
God this tour has been full of it! I'm rooting for Porte now! He has a real chance
Rumours? Among the online cycling cognoscenti? Shurely shome mishtake...
The bike in the picture certainly looks like the S-Works Tarmac McLaren which, it was said, was to be rode by Nico Roche only. If that's what $20,000 buys you can keep it...
Is it me, or is this the Tour that just keeps on giving?
Specialized claim that the broken bike people are talking about fell off the roof rack and was not the bike Contador crashed. True or not they're in damage limitation overdrive as rumour of frame failure has gone apocalyptic.
Different version here:
http://www.businessinsider.com/alberto-contador-crashes-out-of-tour-de-f...
So with Froome asking Contador on a date at this year's Vuelta does this mean that Wiggins will not go now? Be very interesting to see what SKY have to say about this. Didn't Wiggins say he would use the Vuelta as preparation for the Worlds today?
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