Anton goes under the knife
Igor Anton, the long-standing leader of the 2010 Vuelta a Espana, has had to go under the knife this weekend after a crash in stage 14 put an end to his race. It was a déjà vu as he went in to the Hospital de Cruces in Bilbao for an elbow operation, the same hospital where he went into surgery after a crash in the 2008 Vuelta.
"Unfortunately, I'm getting used to this kind of situation," said Anton. "When things were going well at the Vuelta, I stayed calm, and I kept my feet on the ground. Now I'll keep the same approach although my race has ended in an unexpected manner."
Thousands of fans looked on as he crashed at the bottom of the Peña Cabarga, at a speed of 80km/h. He initial tried to get back on his bike, but when the team doctor arrived he was told that his race was over, his elbow was broken. He took the disappointment with the same calm dignity with which he had worn the leader’s jersey.
"I'll keep these 14 days at the Vuelta as happy memories,” said Anton. “I've lived a dream."
His team, Euskaltel-Euskadi, had more bad luck in their home-region of Basque, with Anton’s teammate Egoi Martinez also crashing out in the same stage. He was part of a group crash in the last seven kilometres which included Marzio Bruseghin and Rigoberto Uran of Caisse d’Epargne.
“Fortunately I have no fracture,” said Martinez to El Ciclismo. “The doctors found that I had a dislocated shoulder and trauma to my chest and neck. I’ll be out for a week so that they can monitor my internal bleeding and I’ll have my arm in a sling too.”
Both Caisse d’Epargne riders were given the clear to start stage 15, but suffered a serious blow to their chances of a good overall result. The stage was ultimately won by Team Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez.
"That's a pity about Anton's fall, but this is cycling,” said Rodriguez. “He’s young and I'm sure the future is for him."
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