Contador rules out quitting
Source: Agencies |
July 13, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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ALBERTO Contador yesterday dismissed a report suggesting the three-time champion could be about to quit the Tour de France because of a knee problem.
The 28-year-old Spaniard has been suffering from inflammation of his right knee after crashing twice since the start of the Tour, prompting French daily L'Equipe to report that he could leave the race in the Pyrenees.
"The idea (of pulling out) did not even cross my mind," Contador, who has been nursing the injury with a lot of ice, told reporters before the 10th stage yesterday.
"Go home? Yes, but not before the end of the Tour. I will do everything I can to reach Paris as the winner. I feel actually better."
Contador finished in 31st place yesterday and is 16th overall.
Contador tumbled off his bike during Sunday's ninth stage after his handlebars became tangled with Vladimir Karpets' bike, damaging the same knee he hurt earlier in the race. But the Spaniard trained with his teammates on Monday morning.
"I'm a bit worried because with a knee injury you can't ride with the same rhythm and the same frequency of pedaling as usual," Contador told a news conference at his hotel on Monday. He said he damaged "the internal part" of his knee and was suffering badly from inflammation.
"I want to remain optimistic it will get better before the first Pyrenean stage, but I have no idea how the knee will respond," he said. "We'll have the first indication tomorrow."
The 28-year-old Contador seems dogged by bad luck in the race. He lost more than a minute during the first stage after being slowed by a crash that split the pack in two, and was lucky to escape with only cuts and bruises following a fall in the fifth stage.
"Maybe I'm getting old," Contador joked. "No, seriously, it's just bad circumstances and there is nothing you can do about it."
Contador tested positive for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour and could be stripped of all his titles won since last July if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules against him next month. He is one of only five riders to have won all three of the sport's premier races or Grand Tours - the Tour, Giro d'Italia and the Spanish Vuelta.
The 28-year-old Spaniard has been suffering from inflammation of his right knee after crashing twice since the start of the Tour, prompting French daily L'Equipe to report that he could leave the race in the Pyrenees.
"The idea (of pulling out) did not even cross my mind," Contador, who has been nursing the injury with a lot of ice, told reporters before the 10th stage yesterday.
"Go home? Yes, but not before the end of the Tour. I will do everything I can to reach Paris as the winner. I feel actually better."
Contador finished in 31st place yesterday and is 16th overall.
Contador tumbled off his bike during Sunday's ninth stage after his handlebars became tangled with Vladimir Karpets' bike, damaging the same knee he hurt earlier in the race. But the Spaniard trained with his teammates on Monday morning.
"I'm a bit worried because with a knee injury you can't ride with the same rhythm and the same frequency of pedaling as usual," Contador told a news conference at his hotel on Monday. He said he damaged "the internal part" of his knee and was suffering badly from inflammation.
"I want to remain optimistic it will get better before the first Pyrenean stage, but I have no idea how the knee will respond," he said. "We'll have the first indication tomorrow."
The 28-year-old Contador seems dogged by bad luck in the race. He lost more than a minute during the first stage after being slowed by a crash that split the pack in two, and was lucky to escape with only cuts and bruises following a fall in the fifth stage.
"Maybe I'm getting old," Contador joked. "No, seriously, it's just bad circumstances and there is nothing you can do about it."
Contador tested positive for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour and could be stripped of all his titles won since last July if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules against him next month. He is one of only five riders to have won all three of the sport's premier races or Grand Tours - the Tour, Giro d'Italia and the Spanish Vuelta.
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