Alpe d'Huez chaos forces Vincenzo Nibali out of Tour de France
Jul 20 2018 04:30 am CET
Photo of Vincenzo Nibali by Jonathan Roorda / CyclingPub.com
Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) has been forced out of the Tour de France by a fracture in a vertebra, Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport has confirmed.
Nibali suffered a crash during the last kilometres of the climb of the Alpe d'Huez when the euphoric public pushed him off his bike. Even though it was reported at first that a race motorcycle crashed against the rider amidst the chaos, videos have surfaced that show the public being the cause of the incident.
Even though the rider finished the stage at 13 seconds from stage winner Geraint Thomas (Sky), he had to be taken to the hospital of Grenoble due to some pains that he was having. The rider underwent examinations that confirmed a fracture in the tenth vertebra, also known as T10.
In addition to the pain, Nibali was also having trouble breathing, a symptom associated with the fracture of this vertebra. This type of fracture makes it impossible for the rider to continue in the race.
Nibali was in fourth position of the General Classification, at two minutes and 37 seconds from Thomas.
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDS