Tour de France Turmoil: Down Goes Contador

After doing all he could for 10 days to avoid a crash, Alberto Contador finally fell victim to slick conditions and bad luck. Less than a week after

Elliot Chester | Jul 14, 2014

Tour de France Turmoil: Down Goes Contador /

After doing all he could for 10 days to avoid a crash, Alberto Contador finally fell victim to slick conditions and bad luck.

Less than a week after tentativeness on the famously treacherous cobblestones of eastern France had cost the Spaniard more than two and a half minutes to chief rival Vincenzo Nibali, Contador fell heavily on the descent of the Petit Ballon and sustained a broken tibia, forcing him to abandon the race he last won in 2009 soon afterward.

The abandonment of Contador might have left Nibali without a peer for the second half of the Tour. A day after he calculatingly ceded the overall lead to France’s Tony Gallopin, Nibali attacked on the slopes of La Planche des Belles Filles and won the race’s first mountaintop finish, reclaiming the yellow jersey and solidifying his status as the odds-on favorite to claim victory in Paris.

The Tour de France Through the Years

Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

The arrival of the cycling bunch at Albi in France at the first Tour de France in 1903.

Cyclists taking their bag of provisions on the Tour de France.

La Foule des Jeunes au 'Tour de France: les voila! (The crowd of young people at the Tour de France: here they are!)

French racing cyclist Maurice Garin, winner of the first Tour de France in 1903.

Rene Pottier, a French racing cyclist in the Tour de France in 1905.

Maurice Branger/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

The start of the 1908 Tour de France in Paris on July 13, 1908.

Racing cyclist Nicolas Frantz, from Luxembourg, celebrates his Tour de France victory, in Parc des Princes, Paris, on July 15, 1928.

French cyclist Andre Leducq (left) won the Tour de France in 1932.

Belgian team racing cyclists Georges Ronsse (left), Frans Bonduel (center) and Jean Aerts (right) write letters during a rest time of the Tour de France, on July 8, 1932 in Nantes.

French racing cyclist Antonin Magne (left), winner of the 28th Tour de France is interviewed at the end of the 23rd stage Caen-Paris, on July 29, 1933.

Racing cyclist Arsene Mersch of Luxembourg changes his wheel with Josy Krauss one's after a puncture during the fourth stage of the Tour de France, on July 10, 1934.

Henri Desgrange (left), founder of the Tour de France, stands next to French rider Roger Lapebie on July, 21, 1937 in Pau, before the start of the 16th stage between Pau and Bordeaux.

Roger Pingeon, French racing cyclist and winner of the Tour de France 1967 (right), shaking hands of Eddy Merckx (left), Belgian racing cyclist.

The French cyclist Jacques Anquetil, winner of the Tour de France, upon his crossing the finishing line at the Parc des Princes on July 16, 1961.

Cyclists Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Felice Gimondi were the three winners of the Tour de France in 1970.

Lucien Van Impe from Belgium, wearing the red and white Polka Dot Jersey of the best climber, rides during the 64th Tour de France in July 1977.

Lucien Van Impe from Belgium waves from podium during the 64th Tour de France between June 30 and July 27, 1977. Van Impe finished third placed in the overall ranking.

Frenchman Bernard Hinault leads in front of Portuguese Joaquim Agostinho, Dutchmen Joop Zoetemelk and Hennie Kuiper (left) and Swedish Sven-Ake Nilsson during the third stage of the Tour de France between Luchon and Pau on June 30, 1979. Hinault won the stage in a sprint finish beating Belgian Rudy Pevenage and Italian Gian-Battista Barronchelli and went on to capture his second consecutive Tour de France's victory in Paris, winning seven stages overall.

Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk, wearing the leader's yellow jersey, rides uphill next to Frenchman Raymond Martin during the 17th stage of the Tour de France between Serre-Chevalier and Morzine on July 14, 1980. Zoetemelk finished 13th of the stage won by Frenchman Mariano Martinez but went on to win his first and only Tour de France in Paris.

French cyclist Laurent Fignon undergoes a medical exam before the start of the Tour de France cycling road race on June 27, 1984 in Bobigny. Fignon revealed on June 11, 2009, during the recording of a TV show that he suffers advanced stage cancer, but said that there he has no links with doping products. Fignon won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984.

During a day-off on July 12, 1985 in Villard-de-Lans, Frenchman Bernard Hinault, the overall leader of the 72nd Tour de France, displays his four yellow jerseys won in previous years (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982). Hinault won the 1985 edition as well to tie the record set by his compatriot Jacques Anquetil and Belgian rider Eddy Merckx.

The American cyclist Greg Lemond rides in the Tour de France on July 16, 1986.

Spanish Julian Gorospe (right) leads a final breakaway from Nimes to Gap in the 73rd Tour de France, with French Jean-FranÁois Bernard (left) and French Bernard Vallet (center).

The riders reach the top of the Col du Galibier in France, between Le Bourg-d'Oisans and La Plagne, during Stage 21 of the Tour de France in July 1987.

French cyclist Stephen Roche is rescued after fainting, on July 22, 1987 at the arrival of the 21st stage of the Tour de France between Bourg d'Oisans and La Plagne.

A group of cyclists recover after a fall during the third stage of Tour de France in Francorchamps, Belgium on July 3, 1989.

American Greg Lemond celebrates on the podium wearing the yellow jersey after winning the 1990 Tour de France in Paris. It was his third in the Tour de France.

Greg LeMond sucks his thumb like a baby as he waits for the medical examinations on Friday, June 29, 1990, in Poitiers, France.

Cyclists pass through the Alsatian countryside in the 10th stage of racing between Luxembourg and Strasbourg in the 79th Tour de France in July 1992.

Spanish cycling champion Miguel Indurain (right) takes one of the final turns of the 79th Tour de France on the Champs Elysees in July 1992.

American cyclist Lance Armstrong undergoes a medical examination in Lille, northern France, in June 1994, a few days before the start of the 81st Tour de France cycling race.

Fabio Roscioli of Italy splashes himself with water during the 12th stage of the Tour de France from Isola 2000 to Marseille in July 1993. Roscioli raced ahead and alone for 112 miles before winning the stage. Miguel Indurain had no problem holding onto the lead even though he finished in the main pack, more than 20 minutes behind Roscioli.

The American flag flutters in the air in the foreground as the pack of riders pass under it on their way up the coast during stage six of the Tour de France in 1994.

Defending chamption Miguel Indurain of Spain going through medical checkups prior to the start of the Tour de France in 1995.

Four-time winner of the Tour de France Miguel Indurain of Spain takes a lung-capacity check-up in Saint-Brieuc, France prior to the start of the 1995 edition of the race.

Sunflowers frame cyclists as the pack rides by under cloudy skies during the 14th stage of the Tour de France cycling race in July 1995.

The peleton climbing La Freissinouse leaving the start at Gap on its way on the 11th stage of the Tour De France in 1996.

American George Hincapie performs during the 13 stage of the Tour de France in July 1997.

The yellow jersey German Jan Ullrich demonstrates with other cyclists at the beginning of the 12th stage of the Tour de France in Tarascon-sur-Ariege, South of France, in July 1988 to protest against the media coverage of the race focusing on doping affairs.

The winner of the 1999 Tour de France American Lance Armstrong is supported by spectators during his victory lap on the Champs-Elysees in Paris in July 1999.

The 2000 Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is supported by spectators during his victory lap on the Champs-Elysees after the last stage of the 87th French cycling race in July 2000.

The 2002 Tour de France winner US Lance Armstrong celebrates as he makes his victory lap on the Champs-Elysees after the last stage of the 89th French cycling race in July 2002.

Yellow Jersey holder Alberto Contador of Spain and Astana passes L'Arc de Triomphe during the 21st stage of the Tour de France on July 26, 2009 in Paris, France.

Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain celebrates on a processional lap after winning the 2012 Tour de France after the twentieth and final stage from Rambouillet to the Champs-Elysees.

Britain's Chris Froome wins the 2013 Tour de France winner, making it back-to-back British winners of the cycling race.

Initially, it was unclear exactly what the immediate repercussions of Contador’s exit might be. The peloton, controlled by Nibali’s Astana team, initially sat up and waited for Contador, who began the stage ninth overall and 4:08 behind newly-minted race leader Tony Gallopin. And though the beleaguered Spaniard, with three teammates around him, began to close in on the race leaders, the pain in his injured and bleeding right knee soon prevented him from carrying on any longer.

The pack’s sporting gesture allowed the day’s nine-man breakaway, which included points leader Peter Sagan and best young rider Michal Kwiatkowski, to stretch its lead to over four minutes. That made Kwiatkowski, the best-placed of the bunch, the virtual leader on the road.

Spain's Alberto Contador abandons the race after crashing during the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 161.5 kilometers (100.4 miles) with start in Mulhouse and finish in La Planche des Belles Filles, France, Monday, July 14, 2014. At right is team manager Bjarne Riis of Denmark. — Spain's Alberto Contador abandons the race after crashing during the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 161.5 kilometers (100.4 miles) with start in Mulhouse and finish in La Planche des Belles Filles, France, Monday, July 14, 2014. At right is team manager Bjarne Riis of Denmark :: AP Photo/Christophe Ena

But Astana’s hard-charging chase (aided for a time by Team Sky, riding in support of Richie Porte) gradually nailed back the excess time. The breakaway then shattered when last year’s third-place finisher, Joaquim Rodriguez, lifted the pace on the day’s pentultimate climb, the Col des Chevrère. Further down the road, Gallopin, his face locked in a perpetual grimace, fell off the back of the pack and eventually lost nearly five minutes to Nibali. "It was my worst day on a bike,” said Gallopin.

Gallopin wasn’t the only one to lose big chunks of time to Nibali. After sprinting away from his small chase group, the Italian national champion caught and passed a spent Rodriguez and held off a desperate chase from Frenchman Thibaut Pinot to win his first-ever Tour stage. He now leads the general classification by 2:23 over Porte.

Meanwhile, the race was forced absorb the loss of another major favorite. First to go down had been defending champion Chris Froome, who crashed three times in two days on the Tour’s cobbled stages before quitting midway through Stage 5 with a fractured right hand and left wrist.

Off the Back: Five Thoughts on the Tour de France Today

Contador emerged from those stages physically unscathed, though at the price of the precious minutes he lost to Nibali. “[Stage 5] was an extremely complicated stage,” Contador told VeloNews afterward. “You had to be cautious at every turn. We lost a lot of time. The most important thing was to avoid crashing. My terrain is still to come.”

Stage 10, whose seven climbs gave it a profile resembling a busted piece of safety glass, figured to be Contador’s first chance to pull back significant time on Nibali. Instead, like Froome, Contador never got the chance to enjoy the mountains that catapulted him to glory in the past. “It’s a big shame,” said Contador’s Tinkoff-Saxo Sports Director Philippe Mauduit. “But that's the law of sport. All teams go through this.”

Notes from the Tour

American Ted King also abandoned on the stage after losing contact with the peloton early in the race. King started the stage in last place, seven seconds behind China’s Ji Cheng and nearly two hours behind Gallopin.
This was the second stage to finish at La Planche des Belles Filles. In 2012, Froome won, while teammate and eventual winner Bradley Wiggins donned the yellow jersey for the first time. That year, Nibali finished fourth on the day, seven seconds behind.
For the ninth straight year, a Frenchman failed to win on Bastille Day. The last to do so was breakaway specialist David Moncoutié, who won into Digne les Bains in 2005.
The first of the Tour’s two rest days are tomorrow. The riders will spend it in Besançon, where they will start when the race restarts on Wednesday.

Published Jul 14, 2014

ELLIOT CHESTER