Crash rules Vinokourov out of Tour
14.06.2004/ No Tour for Alexander Vinokourov:
The Kazakhstani, a stage winner and third overall in 2003, fractured his right shoulder in a terrifying fall 47km from the finish of Sunday's second stage of the Tour of Switzerland and is now officially off the T-Mobile Team roster for the Tour de France.
Vinokourov will undergo surgery on his shoulder on Tuesday at a hospital in Rheinfelder, Switzerland, and will be out of action for at least three weeks.
A bitter blow
The news has left the T-Mobile Team in deep shock: "It is a bitter blow to all of us", said a clearly disappointed Team spokesman Olaf Ludwig. "Vino was approaching his top form and he was key to our Tour de France plans.
Jan Ullrich, who is currently leading in the general classification at the Tour de Suisse, spoke with his team-mate by phone on Sunday evening: He is in really low spirits. He planned his whole season around the Tour and now he is going to be a spectator that hurts.
Sporting Director Mario Kummer was also shell-shocked by the bad luck "Without Vino, we have lost an ace. Now the team has got to regroup. We have got to try and replace Vino as best we can", said Kummer with a clear focus on the upcoming Tour".
Olympic hopes remain
This is the second time in three years that Vinokourov has had his Tour de France hopes wrecked by a crash in the Tour de Suisse. "He'll have to wait three weeks before getting back on the bike," team spokesman Olaf Ludwig commented Monday. "It's too early to say whether his second objective of the season, the Olympic Games, will be in danger. The race is in eight weeks, so it should be OK."
Vinokourov is the defending Olympic silver medallist, having stormed to second at the Sydney, Australia road race in 2000 behind Jan Ullrich, today Vinokourov's Tour de France leader in the T-Mobile team.
Source: www.t-mobile-team.com |
