Bad luck in the Tour

Bad luck in the Tour

Alejandro loses more than 9 minutes as a consequence of a mechanical incident

Alejandro’s quotes in Saint-Amand-Montrond:

“It was a day of pure bad luck, there’s nothing else. We were riding at the front, attentive, confident, well positioned as we always did in this year’s Tour, but bad luck made someone crash into me from behind and breaking the rear wheel in a crucial moment. It’s something you can’t avoid. All the team stopped to wait for me and we were really close to bridge, but some teams, like Belkin or Europcar, pushed harder. That’s cycling – sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. We’ve got to keep fighting and stay calm: there’s still a long way to go in this Tour, and the race might and will change a lot.

“Hopes for the rest of the race? It was hard to fight for the overall win before this stage and it’s even more complicated today, but we still have Nairo up-front and close in the overall. There’s a long week ahead, where we probably won’t be able to contest the leader jersey, but we can make some pain into the bunch. Let’s see how we plan things after this blow: Nairo is now our best GC rider and we will help him if we decide so, but we can also make a team strategy to hurt others and make the final podium. There are many mountain stages still to come and lots of things can happen. Some of those teams that helped out so I didn’t bridge can see their race hardened. The team gave 100% today – it actually was a tremendously hard day for everyone in the race.”

(Press release Movistar Team)