Alberto Contador breaks tibia in crash, drops out of 2014 Tour de France

Alberto Contador crashed during Stage 10 of the 2014 Tour de France and suffered a broken tibia, per BBC Sport. He is now officially out of the race. Contador, a two-time champion of the race, could not continue after going down between Mulhouse and La Planche des Belles Filles.

The Spaniard went down approximately midway through the stage, which was regarded as the toughest of the event with four Category 1 climbs. On television, it was obvious that Contador had an injury to his knee. Per the Associated Press, Contador spokesman Jacinto Vidarte said that Contador was not certain of the cause of the crash, but it was unavoidable:

“He explained to me just a few minutes ago that he (hit) a stone or a hole in the road or something - and he crashed,” Contador spokesman Jacinto Vidarte told The Associated Press by phone during the stage. “He couldn’t do anything about it.”

Here’s the official statement from the Contador’s Tinkoff-Saxo Bank team:

Tinkoff-Saxo’s team captain Alberto Contador has abandoned Tour de France following a hard crash on stage 10. Contador crashed on the descent of Petit Ballon and injured his knee. After receiving medical care and a new bike, Alberto was determined to get back on the bike and quickly continued in an attempt to close the gap to the peloton.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s attempt to bring Alberto back in the peloton was made difficult by the mountainous terrain and the high speed up front. After 20 kilometers of chasing Alberto was not able to pedal and abandoned the race due to his knee injury.

The crash was actually Contador’s second of the day. He received a new bike from Nicholas Roche after an initial crash earlier in the stage.

This is not the first time a major name has dropped out of the competition this year. England’s Chris Froome already bowed out after crashing in Stage 5, leaving the reigning champ unable to defend his Tour de France title.

Before Stage 10, Contador was in ninth place and only 4 minutes and 8 seconds behind Tony Gallopin for the overall lead.