Posted on 07/05/2006 8:39:40 PM PDT by nutmeg
After breaking his collar-bone as the result of a crash caused by an inadvertent touch of a team-mate's wheel, crocked Tour favourite Alejandro Valverde is now looking ahead to the Vuelta.
After having his broken collar-bone fastened in a Maastricht hospital on Tuesday, Alejandro Valverde is set to return to Spain today and is likely to have an operation on the broken bone, which will keep him off the bike for two weeks. Unlike Erik Dekker, Fred Rodriguez and Sandy Casar, who were all crash victims of careless fans yesterday, Valverde went down when his front wheel touched the rear wheel of Caisse d’Epargne team-mate Oscar Pereiro when riders in front of them suddenly braked.
“I am really disappointed of course for being so unlucky,” said Valverde when leaving the hospital. “Now I am hoping to come back as soon as possible in good shape because I am already hungry to compete again. I am sure my team-mates from Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears will do great things during the Tour. I would have like to share those emotions with them, but it will be for next year!”
Caisse team boss Eusebio Unzue was quickly at the scene of the crash and immediately discovered the worst when Valverde told him: “It’s broken, Eusebio, it’s broken.” Unzue said later: “I could see clearly it was broken because there was a point in his right collar-bone.”
While Caisse will now pin their hopes on Pereiro and Russian Vladimir Karpets, Valverde is now turning his thoughts towards September’s Tour of Spain, which he was not previously going to start.
Alejandro Valverde of Spain pedals during the third stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race, Tuesday, July 4, 2006, between Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, and Valkenburg, Netherlands. Valverde later crashed and had to withdraw from the race. Matthias Kessler of Germany won the stage, Tom Boonen of Belgium takes the overall lead of the race. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my Tour de France 2006 list.
That is a cool Pinarello Dogma FP that he is riding...
~ Blue Jays ~
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.