Tour de France: Good Tour / Bad Tour - Losers

Alberto Contador

Contador struggled to stay on his bike on several occasions, during the first week, and it seemed that combined with his Giro exploits was a bit too much. He was caught up in the huge crash, on stage one and lost over a minute and was later, allegedly, pushed over by Vladimir Karpets. He did look like he might be catching on the main contenders, but bonking on the Galibier spelled the end for the 2010 champion. He did earn respect of fan, especially after thumping a rude spectator, but he will have to look at his calendar hard next year, if he hopes to win another tour.

Robert Gesink

After his 6^th place, in last year’s tour, high hopes were held for Gesink and his Rabobank team. He seemed to be going well, sat in 15 and well in control of the white jersey, but a crash on stage 12 put an end to that. The Dutchman never seemed to recover, after that, and eventually finished down in 33^rd, over 1 hour behind Cadel Evans. With their team leader down and out, the doors were open for the rest of the team. Only Luis-Leon Sanchez could manage a victory; while Laurens Ten Dam finished looking like an extra from Lock Stock, after landing on his face, during a crash.

RadioShack

The American team were severely depleted, by the time they reached Paris, after a series of crashes. Janez Brajkovic was the first one to go, when he hit the deck pretty hard and had to have the blood moped from his brow. Christopher Horner didn’t escape easily, as he rode to the finish of Stage 7, despite having severe concussion. The American hardly knew who or where he was, when he got to the line. A big blow to the team was their workhorse Yaroslav Popovych, who fell ill in the early stages. Andreas Kloden could barely walk, by the time he decided to give up the ghost, with back pain. All of this left the team with only five riders and no hope in the GC.

Tom Boonen

The big Belgian missed last year’s tour, due to knee problems, and was hoping to make this a triumphant return. His big return fell flat on its face, in more ways than one, after Boonen crashed out early on. On a stage where almost his entire team crashed, the 2007 Green jersey wearer was also caught up in a tangle. He continued on, but his head injuries progressively worsened and forced him to pull out. Perhaps this is a sign that the Tour de France and Tom are just not meant to be.

Alexandr Kolobnev

To date, he is the only rider to have tested positive during the 2011 tour. Testers found the, diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide, which is often used to hide other banned substances, in his blood stream. After further testing, his B sample also came back positive and he risks being sacked by his Katusha team. In what has been heralded as one of the cleanest tours on record, he will forever be the black mark on the landscape. The Russian could also face a two year ban, which is normally given ofr any failed drugs test.

Drivers

2011 saw two shocking incidents of driving, one and a car and the other on a bike. Nicki Sorensen gave a French family an unexpected visit, after he was dragged along by a photographer’s bike and dispatched in their picnic. The rider was immediately fired, by Christian Prudhomme, before the stage had even finished. Next in the firing line were Juan Antonio Flecha and Johnny Hoogerland, who were hit by a France Television car dodging a tree. There was nowhere for the pair to go, but down, and they promptly hit the deck. Needless to say there was another firing, but fortunately the riders were able to continue.