Just A Bike Ride In The Country
From the BBC coverage of today’s stage:
With around 100km to go of the 164.5km stage from Carhaix to Cap Frehel there were a string of crashes.
Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins was one of the first to suffer but was able to continue after a change of bike.
Soon after, [Janez] Brajkovic was involved in a big crash when he slipped on a white line on the roadside.
Brajkovic lay still on the ground before being attended to and although he was able to stand up, he was taken to hospital with his team later saying that he should withdraw from the event.
“It’s a hard day but there’s nothing you can do,” said RadioShack team director Alain Galopin. “It’s the Tour de France, it’s a lottery. Almost everybody crashed. We were hoping to have four leaders in the Pyrenees and there will be only three.”
Defending Tour champion Alberto Contador also took a tumble on the tight roads in Brittany, with the Spaniard also requiring a bike change.
Nicki Sorensen, Contador’s team-mate, was then pulled down when his handlebars became entangled in a photographer’s motorbike, although he was able to continue.
Today’s stage winner, Mark Cavendish from the Isle of Man, dedicated his win to his dog, Amber, who died on Tuesday.
2 comments
Dang, you weren’t kiddin’ when you said it was NASCAR but with bicycles! Even down to the “muh hound dawg died” moment, heh.
They go through mega-buck bikes, like NASCAR goes through tires.
There isn’t a lot of ‘road rash’ protection with their uniforms.