Yesterday’s stage three of the Tour de France saw additional riders dropping out of the Tour due to crashes. Spain’s golden boy Alejandro Valverde hit the deck hard as riders ahead of him swirved in order to avoid a large pot hole (this is what was mentioned on OLN anyway) causing him to crash out with a busted collar bone which is common in cycling.
Freddie Rodriguez of Davitamon Lotto also had bad luck as he and Erik Dekker abandoned the race after an accident as well. Dekker had broke several teeth and had wounds on his face, other crashes of the day included Chris Horner (also of Davitamon Lotto) who got stuck in the gutter with about 15 kilometers to go in the stage while the pack was doing about 30 miles an hour. Horner mentioned the gutter was ok for a while but he soon found himself on dirt as the gutter was not paved! He went down hard and busted a finger and banged up his hand, CSC Stuart O’Grady also was stuck in the same spot as Horner and hurt his back as he also “touched ground”.
Hopefully the peleton will settle down some in the coming days once the riders get though the crash ridden first week of racing.
~ Tour Guy
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