“The race is not lost.”
Alexander Vinokourov answering a reporter's question as he fought his way through the crowd to his Astana team van at the finish line on Stage 5.
The pre-race favorite crashed about 14 miles from the finish line on Thursday. He told CyclingNews:
“I had a problem with my chain. I fell on top of my bike and I ended up in the gutter. The race was going very fast at the time. My [right] knee is very painful. I asked for the support of the whole team. We were all exhausted because of the chase, and on the [final] climb I had to ride by myself. It is a very bad day for me.”
Bad, but it could have been worse. All but two members of the Astanta team shepherded him back to the rear of the peloton, then he worked his way through some stragglers. He could have lost more than 2 minutes, but only lost 1:20 and dropped to 81st.
There are a lot of mountains where he can make up time before the peloton hits Paris.
— Quote from WorldCycling.TV, July 12, 2007
(CyclingNews reports that Vinokourov spent 5 hours in the hospital. He received stitches on both knees and an elbow.)
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