Thomas Voeckler’s knee injury prevents him from riding the Tour de France 2012 to his best abilities
Thomas Voeckler had a couple of near misses during the earlier part of the 2012 season and he was hopeful to mark some good performances at the Tour de France.
The cyclist faced knee pains right from the start of the season and it seems as if he has not fully recovered to ride the French Grand Tour.
He was fighting for the overall classifications but his 148 place finish during the stage 3 of the race has now taken his name out of contention for the overall victory.
The 33-year-old is currently holding the 109th overall position after the stage 4 classifications with a deficit of 8 minutes and 19 seconds over the race leader.
Fabian Cancellara of Team RadioShack-Nissan is leading the category with a lead of 7 seconds over the second place holder Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky Procycling.
Voeckler rode brilliantly during the 2011 version of the Tour and entertained the home crowd with his fabulous performances.
He was in yellow jersey for ten consecutive days, from stage 10-19 and came close to bag his first overall victory at the race.
Voeckler secured the fourth overall position during the race with Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck securing the top three positions.
While commenting on the knee injury the French briefed that he does not feel any pain while walking and the main reason behind his suffering is because he uses left leg more than the right one while cycling.
“It feels like grains of sand and as the stages are already hard enough I didn't need this," Voeckler said. "I'm still in the race and I want to keep fighting”.
"It's a recurring injury which hinders me when standing on the pedals. The problem is that I can't really push on the pedals like I would like”.
“I knew before coming to the Tour that my knee was hurt, from now I take it day by day, and stage by stage. I'll take it step by step".
Thomas bagged two victories in the 2012 season including first place finishes at the Brabantse Pijl and a stage 3 win at the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 2012.
Only time will tell, if Voeckler continuous his last year’s winning momentum at the coming stages of the Tour de France 2012.
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