Alexandre Vinokourov’s 2011 season looks almost certainly over as a result of his crash on Sunday’s stage of the Tour de France. The Team Astana leader has spoken from his hotel and faces a very long delay before he will be ready to train again.
“Everything went fine,” he said of his surgery, according to Astanafans.com. “From 3 to 5 o'clock I was operated on. Rested all day. I can't use my foot for six weeks now. But in general (to restore) it will take three months. That's how it is.”
Vinokourov crashed 110 kilometers into the ninth stage. He was transported to hospital in Aurillac, where an x-ray showed that he had fractured the head of his right femur, then was moved Sunday evening to the Hospital La Pitié Salpetriere in Paris. He was operated there by Professor Yves Catonne, the Head of Orthopedic and Traumatology service.
Since then he has been lying in a hospital bed, although the arrival of his wife will be followed soon afterwards by his departure from the hospital.
“Tomorrow Sveta will fly over so it will be more fun,” he said. “At the end of the week I'll be let go home.”
It is not immediately clear if the three month timeframe will put him back on the bike or return him to racing, but the latter seems unlikely. Vinokourov will most likely require several months of rehabilitation and training before more intensive work can begin.
He indicated prior to this year’s Tour that it would be his last time riding the race. It remains to be seen if he will have a change of heart, given that his planned-final participation in the event didn’t go as planned. He already said that he might consider putting off his retirement until after the London Olympics next year.