Tour takes a tumble
VALKENBURG, Netherlands – Wheels touch. Bikes and riders go down. A bone breaks. Tour de France over.
So it went for Alejandro Valverde during an accident-strewn third stage Tuesday. The Spaniard, whom Lance Armstrong once said could be cycling’s next big thing, fractured his right collarbone, taking yet another favorite out of the showpiece race that already lost its top contenders to a doping scandal even before it began.
On the road, there was a new overall leader, Tom Boonen, who donned the Tour’s yellow jersey over the rainbow-striped world champion’s shirt he already owns. Matthias Kessler of Germany won the hilly stage that covered three countries – Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. It was the first stage victory in four tours for Kessler.
Boonen will wear yellow in his native Belgium on today’s stage four, “something that happens maybe only once every 10 years, so I think it will be special,” he said.
He holds a one-second lead over Australian Michael Rogers, the world time trial champion. American George Hincapie is third, with previous leader Thor Hushovd of Norway slipping back to fourth after he struggled on the final hill of the 134.5 miles route from Esch-sur-Alzette.
But crashes and a perennial headache for the Tour – how to keep riders safe in a race that prides itself on enabling spectators to get up close to their sporting heroes – were unfortunate themes of the day. Doctors were busy.
American Fred Rodriguez’s Fourth of July holiday finished in a hospital emergency unit. A pothole ended his sixth Tour, one of his teammates said. Rodriguez injured his right shoulder and wrist and sustained a concussion.
Dutch rider Erik Dekker apparently hit the same hole, his Rabobank team said, catapulting him over his handlebars onto the road. He broke teeth, ripped his upper lip, had multiple deep cuts on his face and sustained a concussion. A four-time stage winner, he had been riding his 12th Tour.
“Some of the guys thought he was dead,” team spokesman Jacob Bergsma said. “The tar from the road was all over his face.”
Crashes, especially in the fast and relatively flat first week, are nothing new at the 103-year-old Tour. The intense summer heat had also tired riders, making them more accident-prone. That’s why Americans like Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis, now both favorites in the depleted field, have kept a low profile, concentrating on staying safe for the mountains and time trials later in the three-week, 2,272-mile race that will decide the winner.
“You calculate your risks. The main thing is just to get through the day alive,” said Leipheimer, whose 2003 Tour ended with a crash.