CRASH on the descent
July 20, 2008
Oscar Pereiro crashed at the 80KM point of the race, during the descent on the back side of col Agnel.
According to race radio, Pereiro slammed into the guardrail and launched down to the road below. He broke his femur and his shoulder and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Accounts say that he was conscious the entire time.
The crash – on wet roads – has dramatically slowed the rest of the peloton and the breakaway bunch is now up around 15 minutes ahead.
As noted, Pereiro was given the status of winner of the 2006 Tour de France after Floyd Landis’ appeal fell flat. So the 2006 champion is out of the 2008 race.
Now there are 154 riders in the race. If this keeps up, we’ll barely have enough riders to make a peloton by the end of Stage 15.