Cycling Tour de FranceA fifth favourite was forced to quit the Tour de France prematurely yesterday, but Alejandro Valverde's withdrawal had nothing to do with the police inquiry in his native Spain.
Compared to the circumstances of Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo's departures the crash that did for the world-ranking leader would have seemed almost banal if it had not looked so painful.
Valverde nudged his front wheel into the back wheel of another rider as the peloton sped through the Netherlands 10 miles from the finish, lost his balance and disappeared under a pile of fellow cyclists, emerging bloodied and clutching his right collarbone.
It is a familiar sight in the first week of every Tour. As they fall cyclists usually stretch out an arm to save their faces and thus collarbones and wrists are the bones most commonly broken. In the opening days of the race when the speed is at its highest and the cyclists at their most nervous the favourites always try to stay at the front to keep out of trouble. It is by no means a guarantee of safety; Valverde was riding in the first 30 when he fell.
Ironically the accident happened not far from the Ardennes roads that had marked him out as a favourite. Back in April he became the first Spaniard to achieve the coveted "Ardennes double", winning the Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classics in the same year.
It is a feat only the greats achieve and together with his Alpine stage win at Courchevel last year it was enough to earn Valverde a place in most people's shortlist of possible Tour winners even though he had yet to finish the race even once.
He was not the only victim yesterday. Erik Dekker, winner of three stages in the 2000 race, did not make it to his native country after piling into a pavement on a descent in Verviers and severely cutting his face. The American national champion Fred Rodriguez went in the same incident with shoulder and wrist injuries.
And at the foot of the Cauberg short, brutal climb, France's best hope for a high overall place, Sandy Casar, who made it to the finish pedalling like a bird with a broken wing. He will start today in spite of cuts and bruises, but may not last the race. Casar was knocked off his bike by an overzealous spectator, continuing a pattern in this Tour which has seen too many fans get too close to the field. The world champion Tom Boonen, who took over the race lead after finishing fourth yesterday, was hit in the arm by a fan with a camera on Sunday and made a bitter plea for the spectators to show more care.
"There were some very, very dangerous moments in the finale today. I'm not too happy about it. We simply couldn't ride where we wanted to. The road would be five metres wide, the fans would make it one metre wide. You would have to avoid old ladies, prams and ice boxes. We are riding at 30 mph, and people have their backs to us."
The crowds at the Tour always seem to get larger when the race leaves France. The horde that turned out yesterday in the final kilometres was probably the biggest seen on the Tour since the race visited Germany in 2002.
The final sprint lived up to the occasion, with the German Matthias Kessler bursting clear near the top of the Cauberg and holding off what remained of the field. It was a little compensation to his T-Mobile team after Ullrich's disgrace.
Apart from Valverde and Casar the remaining race favourites finished in the leading group of 48. The last burst up the Cauberg did for Boonen's fellow sprinters Robbie McEwen and Thor Hushovd, and the world champion believed he would have won the sprint finish if he had not spent the final kilometres coping with a slow puncture.
Today he will ride triumphantly across his native Belgium in the yellow jersey.
Tour de France details
STAGE THREE
(Esch-sur-Alzette - Valkenburg, 216 km)
1 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile 4 hours 57 mins 54 secs, 2 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile +5 secs, 3 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre, 4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step, 5 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram, 6 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas, 7 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank, 8 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile, 9 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner, 10 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner, 11 A Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole, 12 M Celestino (Ita) Milram, 13 J Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel, 14 C Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto, 15 G Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel, 16 M Fothen, (Ger) Gerolsteiner, 17 R Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval, 18 B Julich (USA) Team CSC, 19 C Sastre (Spa) Team CSC, 20 C Dessel (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance all at same time.
Points classification: 1 T Boonen (Bel/Quick-Step ) 67, 2 D Bennati (Ita/Lampre ) 66, 3 R McEwen (Aus/Davitamon - Lotto ) 65, 4 T Hushovd (Nor/Credit Agricole ) 62, 5 E Zabel (Ger/Milram) 59, 6 L Paolini (Ita/ Liquigas) 57, 7 O Freire (Spa/Rab) 54, 8 S O'Grady (Aus/Team CSC ) 43, 9 B Eisel (Aut/Francaise des Jeux ) 36, 9 M Rogers (Aus/ T-Mobile ) 36
General classification: 1 Tm Boonen (Bel/Quick-Step ) 14:52:23, 2 M Rogers (Aus/ T-Mobile ) +1 sec, 3 G Hincapie (US/ Discovery Channel ) +5, 4 T Hushovd (Nor/ Credit Agricole ) +7, 5. P Savoldelli (Ita / Discovery Channel) +15, 6. D Bennati (Ita/Lampre ), 7. F Landis (US/ Phonak ) +16, 8 V Karpets (Rus/ Caisse d'Epargne ) +17, 9 S Gontchar (Ukr/ T-Mobile), 10 M Kessler (Ger/ T-Mobile ).
Mountain classification: 1 J Pineau (Fra/ Bouygues Telecom ) 17, 2 D De la Fuente (Spa/Saunier Duval ) 14, 3 F Wegmann (Ge/ Gerolsteiner) 12, 4 A Hernandez (Spa/ Euskaltel) 10, 5 Unai Etxebarria (Ven/ Euskaltel) 7, 6 Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa/ AG2R ) 6, 7 J Voigt (Ger/ Team CSC ) 6, 8 C Laurent (Fra/Agritubel) 6, 9 M Kessler (Ger/T-Mobile) 4, 10 Sebastien Joly (Fra/Francaise des Jeux) 3.
Team classification: 1. Discovery Channel 44:37:55. 2. Team CSC +1 sec, 3 T-Mobile +2 sec, 4 Caisse d'Epargne +7, 5 Gerolsteiner +18, 6 Phonak +26, 7 Lampre +37, 8 Saunier Duval +42, 9 Rabobank 10. Credit Agricole +43.
