EN - Hot news of the day - Stage 10 (Mulhouse > La Planche des Belles Filles) by Le Tour de France

Tinkoff-Saxo’s captain Alberto Contador has abandoned the Tour de France 2014 following a serious crash, which happened in today's stage 10. Contador crashed on the wet and chilly descent of Petit Ballon and injured his knee. After receiving medical treatment and a new bike, Contador was determined to get back on the bike and quickly continued with a bleeding right knee in an attempt to close the gap to the peloton.

The Tinkoff-Saxo team’s attempt to return Contador to the main peloton group was made difficult by the mountainous terrain and the high speed which dominated the racing. Following twenty kilometers of chasing, Contador proved unable to pedal and lost hope and motivation. He then abandoned this year's Tour de France.

Upon Contador's arrival in the finish zone he consulted the Tour de France's medical staff, which took x-ray shots of his knee. These x-ray shots were since used to identify a right tibia fracture, which will require surgery.

"Alberto has a broken tibia. It's not a bad fracture but he needs surgery," Tinkoff-Saxo team manager Bjarne Riis commented.

"He's in a lot of pain and is getting stitches. Mentally Alberto is destroyed, obviously. He was in the shape of his life. This was his Tour de France. It's a mess. We were here to win the Tour. He's in super good condition, never better. It's a big pity."

"He was going fast on the downhill with about 60 to 70 km/h. It was a bumpy and slippery road and Contador lost control of his Specialized bike."

"Alberto told me immediately that he thought it would be difficult to continue, but remarkably he tried. But he was in a lot of pain. I could see that he couldn't pedal after the descent and after that there was nothing to do."

Contador is hoping to return to racing in La Vuelta a Espana 2014 together with his teammate Jesus Hernandez who quit this year's Tour too.