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Contador worried about continued knee problems

published 11 July 2011

Pains aggravated by Sunday crash with Karpets' saddle

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Another hard day at the office for Alberto Contador as the Spaniard crashed during the Tour's ninth stage. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Alberto Contador is having a hard time of it at this year's Tour de France, admitting “This is not my Tour.” He was again involved in a crash on Sunday, which left him with further pains in his right knee.

Contador not discouraged by first two Tour de France stages

Karpets and Contador diplomatic on stage 9 crash

"Today's crash was simply an accident caused by a situation where my handlebar got mixed up with Karpets' saddle and as the stage progressed I felt increasing pain in my right knee and am a bit worried because the last few days I have been feeling pain in the same knee,” he said on the Saxo Bank-SunGard website after the stage.

"I hope that today and tomorrow and a whole lot of ice can make it recover for Tuesday. It has been a troubled Tour with accidents and bad luck but I've to be optimistic. There is still a lot to do and I must focus on recovering as quickly as possible for the Pyrenees.”

On his personal website, the defending Tour champion admitted that “This is not my Tour, “ and that he welcomed the first rest day. “It's good to have this rest day because the inflammation is very big.”

As to why there have been so many crashes, Contador noted that “We're riding over very narrow roads, more than normal, perhaps because we went to the north and, for sure, because there has been a lot of rain, which causes crashes.”