Despite crashing heavily yesterday, Andreas Kloden and Alxandre Vinokourov took to the start line for today’s sixth stage of the 2007 Tour, but it was a close thing for both riders.
The Astana team’s leaders arrived at the start line in Semur-en-Auxois strapped and bandaged, Kloden moving gingerly due to his cracked coccyx and severe bruising, his Kazakh team mate sporting large bandages to both knees.
Kloden had left yesterday’s finish area in Autun lying across the back seat of an Astana team car. Few had expected him to return to the race. While the German sped to Autun for X-rays, Vinokourov was tended to at Beaune hospital, where 15 stitches were needed in each of his knees.
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Kloden finally had dinner at 8-30 last night, but Vinokourov did not emerge from Beaune hospital’s emergency department until 11-45, accompanied by his bodyguard and smiling gamely, despite his disappointment at losing more than a minute to his rivals in yesterday’s stage.
Both riders may be able to survive today’s flat stage, which has only two fourth category climbs, but their real test will come on tomorrow’s first mountain stage to Le Grand Bornand. Vinokourov missed last year’s Tour due to the chaos surrounding the Operacion Puerto doping investigation, although he himself was not under suspicion.
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Now in his mid-thirties, he was determined to win this year’s race, widely considered to be his last chance before age takes its toll. “I have to keep going,” he said. “It hurts, but I know how to suffer. There are no fractures and I hope that the stitches in my knees don’t hamper my riding too much.”
Brave words from their team leader, but Astana may have already started feeling that this is not their year.