Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) couldn't raise his arm to don the maglia rosa(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) with ice on his knee after crashing on stage 6(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) nursed his left arm after his crash(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Alberto Contador enjoying his time to spray(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador and Fabio Aru at the start(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Giro d'Italia race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) suffered a late fall in the finale of stage 6. He was just one victim in a crash involving several other riders as the sprint for the stage began. Contador landed hard and seemed to hurt his knee and left shoulder. He was quickly back on his bike but asked not pull on the pink jersey or open the prosecco on the podium due to his injuries.
22:34 CET: Alberto Contador has made it back to the Tinkoff Saxo hotel for the night and sent out one last message via Twitter: "Thanks for your support,fortunately there aren't fractures,it has been a shoulder dislocation,I hope to take the start tomorrow."
21:26 CET: More from Alberto Contador: "I will try to start tomorrow on stage 7, as I have worked very hard ahead of the Giro. I will try to continue until the very last moment. I’m optimistic about the start tomorrow, but we have to wait until right before the start to see what happens and how serious the effect of the crash is," he has said in a press statement.
21:00 CET: Alberto Contador has spoken, and confirmed that he dislocated his shoulder twice today. Once in the crash and then just before the podium presentation. “In principle, there was a dislocation [of the shoulder] from when I fell. I got up, my shoulder was dislocated, and acting on instinct I popped it back in. I was scared because I thought I had broken my collarbone, which I have never broken in my life, then when we were at the foot of the podium it [the shoulder] came out again:” More on that here.
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20:47: CET: More on the crash and this time an update on Daniele Colli, from the medical bulletin: "Rider no. 124 Daniele COLLI (NIP) underwent x-ray examinations that confirmed a compound fracture of the left humerus, while CAT scans ruled out further fractures or damage to the internal organs of the chest and abdomen."
20:25 CET: This just in from the race medical bulletin: "Alberto CONTADOR VELASCO (TCS) underwent x-ray and CAT scans of the left shoulder that was injured during the crash. Clinical examination revealed a slight instability of the left shoulder joint, as compared to the right one. The rider experienced slight pain."
8:00 CET: Tinkoff-Saxo team manager has spoken about Contador's crash, saying "It's impossible to say with certainty if he can continue." Read the full story by clicking here.
“I saw a bad film like at last year’s Tour, but I hope with a different ending. He doesn’t have serious pain and that’s already a good thing,” Feltrin said. “He couldn’t put on the jersey on the podium because he was wearing an ice pack.
“It was a full speed crash and he went down very hard, so the first thing we did was put ice on his knees and shoulders. There doesn’t seem to be any big broken bone but when you have that kind of fall, you never know.”
The million dollar question, of course, was whether Contador will be forced to abandon the Giro before Friday’s seventh stage to Fiuggi, and Feltrin said that it was simply too soon to say.
“Clearly there’s the possibility. It’s impossible to say with certainty now if he can continue,” Feltrin said. “Until the doctor sees him, we can’t say.”
7:55 CET: The Giro d'Italia race director Mauro Vegni is at theTinkoff-Saxo hotel and has spoken to team manager Stefano Feltrin. He refused to blame one person for the crash.
"I spoke with Feltrin and there’s obviously regret and worry but it’s just one of those things. You have a race that goes through so many cities and places with thousands of people there and nothing happens. Then here, where there were barriers all the way, something like that happens. We can’t punish 20,000 people because of the actions of one person," Vegni said.
7:50 CET: Contador carried his left arm in a sling after his check-up but he told journalists at the team hotel that he is optimistic and hopes to carry on in the Giro d'Italia.
7:45 CET: According to Italian journalist Marco Bonarrigo outside the team hotel, x-rays have shown that Contador has not suffered any fractures to his left shoulder.
7:40 CET: Contador has left the x-ray truck and mobile clinic with his left arm bandaged and in a sling according to Rasmus Staghoj via Twitter.
7:25 CET: According to the Spanish sports newspaper AS, Contador suffered a dislocated shoulder. However it appears it was a temporary dislocation of a joint followed by an immediate return to its normal position. The correct medical term in this case is a subluxation of the shoulder.
Contador got up quickly after his crash and rode to the finish. However he was unable to pull on the pink jersey on the podium and quickly left for his hotel.
7:10 CET: According to Danish television journalist Rasmus Staghoj, who is outside the Tinkoff-Saxo hotel, Contador is undergoing check-up and an x-ray in the mobile unit that travels with the Giro d'Italia so riders can avoid going to local hospitals.
6:30pm CET: The Tinkoff-Saxo team has said Contador will undergo further medical examinations this evening. "We’re still having a look at it, of course we’re still having some x-rays and analysis on it to see exactly what the problem is," Tinkoff Saxo's Stefano Feltrin told the press at the finish.
Contador's personal press officer Jacinto Vidarte added: "Alberto is almost good, he had a very heavy fall towards the end. He’s hurt himself on the knee and he’s got a bad shoulder as you can see but I think he should be ok. Alright he’s hurt his knee but I think that he should be ok to continue."
"Of course he’s only just fallen, we’ve got to do all the medical exams in the next few hope that he’s ok."
6:15 CET: Italian media is reporting that Contador's Giro d'Italia could be at risk after unconfirmed reports that he suffered a subluxation of his shoulder in the crash - in laypersons’ terms, a temporary dislocation of a joint followed by an immediate return to its normal position.
5:45 CET: Daniele Colli (Nippo - Vini Fantini) was the first rider taken out in the fall and appeared to be seriously injured, twisting his arm on impact. Television images seemed to show that the crash was sparked by a spectator leaning out into the road with a camera and a zoom lens. Colli went down on his shoulder, causing other riders to crash across the road. He was unable to finish the stage and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
According to Colli's Nippo Vini Fantini team he was unable to feel his arm after the crash and is suspected of having fractured it. The team later posted a message on Twitter, saying "bad fall for @DanieleColli upon arrival in the peloton. Daniele is alert, has a broken arm and he went to the hospital for inspection."
The stage was won by Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and despite the crash Contador retains his two second lead over Fabio Aru (Astana).
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