In case you have not been following this year’s Tour de France, we thought we would recap some of the carnage of what has to be one of the most wreck-plagued TDFs in years. First and foremost is the horrible collision between a television car and several top riders during stage 9 last Sunday. The auto swerved into Sky rider Juan Antonio Flecha, sending him slamming into the others. The worst of the injuries came when Dutch rider Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) went head-over-teakettle into a barbed wire fence. His legs were ripped and bloodied — the man looked like he had just fought a puma. An investigation into the driver of the car is pending.
Said Michale Cornelisse, the sports director of Hoogerland’s Vacansoleil team (via an article on www.abc.net.au), “I just saw him flying through the air. He has deep cuts in his legs, he was going at 60 kilometres per hour, it was unbelievable.” To solidify his status as a tour hero, Hoogerland remounted his bike and rode the 22k remaining in the stage before being sent to the hospital to have his injuries tended to. It was 33 stitches later, but he is back in the race. His standing is currently 84th out of 177 riders.
The dramatic exit of Alexander Vinokourov is another notable “item of TDF carnage.” The Astana rider was doing well, and a definite contender for GC in what was to be his final tour. On a fast descent, he lost control and rode into a ravine where he struck a metal barrier, breaking his femur. After recently rejoining the peloton following a 2008 doping scandal, this is major disappointment for both he and his team.
