Who's Out in this Year's Tour de France?
197 cyclists signed in at the July 3rd prologue of the 2010 Tour de France, and 174 cyclists finished the 15th stage on Monday, July 19th. That makes a total of 23 riders who have dropped out so far this year, some of them pre-Tour favourites, and some forcibly removed.
The latest casualty was Mauro Santambrogio, who was at the sign-in of the 15th Stage but dropped out of the Tour an hour and a half into the day. The stage also included a three-man crash – the trio finished the stage, but their injuries are unknown at this time.
Santambrogio was to serve as support for BMC-Racing team leader Cadel Evans through the mountains, but has suffered from an illness which has now gotten the better of him. This adds to the already significant woes of Team BMC-Racing, which already lost Mathias Frank to an injured thigh and broken thumb in the first stage. Evans, the team leader, is also suffering through his race since falling from being a top contender due to a fractured elbow.
Team Garmin-Transitions has suffered even more pitfalls than BMC-Racing. Three members of the team have dropped out and another three are racing with injuries. The team leader and general classification contender, Christian Vande Velde, broke two ribs in the second stage, crushing his hopes of beating his two top-ten finishes in the last two Tours. Furthermore, teammate Robbie Hunter fractured a bone in his elbow in Stage 10, preventing him from gripping the handlebar. Garmin’s most recent casualty is Tyler Farrar, who fractured his wrist but wouldn’t give in to the pain until it overtook him during Stage 12.
“I wanted to get to Paris more than anything,” said Farrar in a statement sent by his team. “Instead, I’ll be watching my teammates from home. That’s not where I want to be.”
The check-in of Stage 12 was also missing Samuel Dumoulin, who dropped out citing fatigue, and by the end of the day the Tour would also see the departure of Mark Renshaw. Renshaw was expelled from the Tour after endangering other riders during the hectic final sprints of the 12th Stage. As a result, Farrar’s final chance for a stage win ultimately went to Renshaw’s team leader Mark Cavendish.
"There are multiple infringements: headbutts, which are unacceptable in the Tour de France, to keep the other riders from passing,” said a Tour official. “After setting up Cavendish he's forcing the riders who finished second and third to the barriers. These are flagrant infringements and the jury decided right away to declassify him and later also to put him out of the race."
Three riders opted not to begin the 9th Stage. Australian Simon Gerrans, riding for team Sky, broke his arm in the 8th Stage. Fabio Felline, the youngest rider at 20 years-old, suffered contusions, also in the 8th Stage. Vladimir Karpets broke a bone in his palm in the second stage and rode with his injury until the morning of Stage 9.
On July 6, the Tour lost one of its favourites, Frank Shleck, the older brother of the current 2nd place cyclist, who broke his collarbone on the cobblestones.
“Cobblestones just do not belong in the Tour de France,” said contender Chris Horner on his blog. “They make for great TV viewing for the day, but result in less excitement in the long run when we reach the mountains because big name riders have either crashed out or have lost so much time from a crash that they no longer have a chance to win the Tour.”
Manuel Cardoso, riding for Footon-Servetto, dropped out with a broken jaw and shoulder blade. Adam Hansen, for HTC-Columbia, fractured his ribs and sternum and was forced to miss the start of Stage 2. Mickael Delage, for Omega Pharma-Lotto, fractured a cheekbone and dropped out of Stage 2. Niki Terpstra, Team Milram, missed the start of Stage 3 due to fever. David le Lay, for AG2R La Mondiale, dropped out of Stage 3 when he fractured his right elbow and clavicle. Stijn Vandenbergh, riding for Katusha, abandoned the Tour in the first week, and Euskaltel-Euskadi lost Juan José Oroz and Amets Txurruka.
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