Contador avoids Dauphine pile-up to retain lead
Source: Agencies |
June 9, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ALBERTO Contador avoided a multi-rider crash to finish safely in the pack and retain his lead after the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in France on Monday.
The twice Tour de France champion, winner of Sunday's prologue, avoided the trouble 12 kilometers from the finish.
Spain's Haimar Zubeldia was one of some 50 riders who crashed. He broke his arm, an injury that is likely to rule the RadioShack rider out of next month's Tour de France.
"He sustained a fractured radius," RadioShack sports director Alain Gallopin said.
Slovenia's Grega Bole won a sprint to claim the stage victory, the Lampre rider edging out Slovakian Peter Velits and Briton Geraint Thomas.
Spaniard Contador is competing in the demanding one-week race as part of his preparations for the Tour de France, while other contenders such as seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong and last year's runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg have shunned the event to ride the June 12-20 Tour of Switzerland.
"Others did the work. In the end we preferred to be in front to avoid trouble as there were many crashes," Contador told reporters.
An early, five-man breakaway built up a gap of almost 10 minutes but they were caught on the ascent of the Cote de Miribel les Echelles, some 7km from the finish, after the Garmin Transitions team increased the pace at the front of the pack.
Contador's Astana team was not called on for maximum effort as the Spaniard, who has a two-second lead over American Tejay Van Garderen, wanted to spare his teammates before next month's Tour de France.
"I have not changed my mind," said Contador, who said on Sunday he would not defend the yellow jersey. "Today the peloton finished compact and I kept the jersey but I still think the same."
The twice Tour de France champion, winner of Sunday's prologue, avoided the trouble 12 kilometers from the finish.
Spain's Haimar Zubeldia was one of some 50 riders who crashed. He broke his arm, an injury that is likely to rule the RadioShack rider out of next month's Tour de France.
"He sustained a fractured radius," RadioShack sports director Alain Gallopin said.
Slovenia's Grega Bole won a sprint to claim the stage victory, the Lampre rider edging out Slovakian Peter Velits and Briton Geraint Thomas.
Spaniard Contador is competing in the demanding one-week race as part of his preparations for the Tour de France, while other contenders such as seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong and last year's runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg have shunned the event to ride the June 12-20 Tour of Switzerland.
"Others did the work. In the end we preferred to be in front to avoid trouble as there were many crashes," Contador told reporters.
An early, five-man breakaway built up a gap of almost 10 minutes but they were caught on the ascent of the Cote de Miribel les Echelles, some 7km from the finish, after the Garmin Transitions team increased the pace at the front of the pack.
Contador's Astana team was not called on for maximum effort as the Spaniard, who has a two-second lead over American Tejay Van Garderen, wanted to spare his teammates before next month's Tour de France.
"I have not changed my mind," said Contador, who said on Sunday he would not defend the yellow jersey. "Today the peloton finished compact and I kept the jersey but I still think the same."
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