Crash could end Alexandre Vinokourov's career

ALEXANDRE Vinokourov's cycling career appears to have come to a premature end.

Alexande Vinokourov

ALEXANDRE Vinokourov's cycling career appears to have come to a premature end.

The Kazakhstan cycling star crashed out of the Tour de France with a fractured thigh.

Vinokourov, who had been hoping to achieve his dream of pulling on the yellow jersey for the first time in what was to be his eighth and final Tour de France, was among several riders to crash out on the ninth stage.

The spill happened on the descent of the Col du Pas de Peyrol, whose summit was at the 99.5 km mark of the 208 km stage in the hilly Massif Central.

Vinokourov was thrown into the trees at the side of the road and had to be helped to limp back to the roadside by several teammates and a race doctor who had been travelling behind the peloton.

Scans at a nearby hospital in Aurillac diagnosed a “fracture at the top of the femur on his right leg”, according to organisers, confirming the earlier fears of the race doctor.

Vinokourov was transported by helicopter to Parisian hospital la Pitie-Salpetriere to undergo surgery .

Vinokourov, 37, had pledged he was racing in his final Tour de France and that he would retire at the end of the season. He was expected to take over the management of Kazakh-backed outfit Astana.

Vinokourov is considered one of the most attacking and feared riders in the professional peloton.

He has twice won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day classic and has four Tour de France stage wins.

Popularly known as 'Vino', his last attack on the race came Saturday when he went off alone in pursuit of a five-man breakaway that had him in the virtual lead of the race.

He was only caught inside the final two kilometres, finishing with the main bunch 15sec behind stage winner Alberto Rui Costa of Portugal. At the start of Sunday's stage he sat 11th overall at 32sec behind Norway's Thor Hushovd.

As well as his exploits, Vinokourov is known for his darker side.

He was thrown off the race, after the 15th stage and during the second rest day, in 2007 when it was announced he had tested positive for blood doping, leading to a two-year ban from the sport.

AFP