Simon Gerrans of Team Sky is to become the latest rider to abandon the 2010 Tour de France, having sustained a broken arm in a crash during yesterday’s stage between Station des Rousses and Morzine-Avoriaz. The Australian was involved in the incident that saw World champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and polka-dot jersey wearer Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step) come down; it was also the first of three crashes to involve seven-time winner Lance Armstrong (RadioShack).
“What's harder than racing an Alpine stage of the TdF? Racing an Alpine stage of th TdF with a broken arm..” the Australian posted to his Twitter account today.
“Just had a scan that confirmed what I feared,” he added, “I broke my arm when I crashed after 7km of yesterdays stage. My 2010 TdF is finished.”
Although the crash happened very early in the stage, and Gerrans knew that his arm was quite badly damaged, the Australian managed to tough it out and finished the stage. He crossed the line with the “autobus”, the group of sprinters and non-climbers who rally together for mutual support, 32’34” behind stage winner Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).
Unfortunately though, x-rays taken at hospital after the stage confirmed that Gerrans had fractured his left elbow.
This is not the first crash to involve Gerrans in this Tour; the Australian also came down a number of times in the first few stages of the race. Most seriously, he crashed on a road section of the cobbled third stage, sustaining several cuts to his face that required stitches.
"Obviously I'm very disappointed - I've had the sort of Tour de France you'd rather forget," said Gerrans in a team statement. "I'm absolutely gutted that I'm not going to be able to help the other guys over the next two weeks."
He is currently placed 142nd, 59’51” behind compatriot Evans, but will disappear from the standings when he doesn’t take the start in tomorrow’s stage between Chambéry and Gap.
A number of riders have been forced to abandon the Tour with broken bones so far, most notably Christian Vandevelde (Garmin-Transitions) sustained broken ribs on stage 2 through the Ardennes, and Fränk Schleck (Saxo Bank) suffered a triple fracture to his collarbone on the cobblestones of stage 3.