Alberto Contador abandons Tour de France after crash

Tinkoff-Saxo leader Alberto Contador forced to withdraw from Tour de France after fracturing tibia in crash

Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador on stage eight of the 2014 Tour de France

(Image credit: Graham Watson)

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) abandoned the Tour de France today on the road to La Planche des Belles Filles after injuring his knee and fracturing his tibia in a crash mid-stage. The 2007 and 2009 Tour winner became the second big favourite to abandon following Chris Froome (Sky) on Wednesday.

The Spaniard from Madrid crashed with 95 kilometres to race, just after the Petit Ballon descent, in the 161.5-kilometre stage from Mulhouse. The sun was out, but rain had dampened the road and likely helped cause the crash. His left hip was bloody and shorts ripped, but his right knee seemed to cause him more troubles.

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.