BELARUSSIAN ALIAKSANDR KUCHYNSKI will try to continue in the Tour de France despite suffering a fractured bone in his wrist during a crash on the race’s fifth stage, his Katusha team said this morning.
Kuchynski was diagnosed with a fractured scaphoid bone in his right wrist after undergoing scans at Reims hospital late last night.
It followed a crash at the end of the 196 km stage from Rouen to Saint Quentin which took down several riders.
Germany’s Tony Martin, the world time trial champion who rides for Omega-Pharma, suffered the same kind of injury on Sunday’s opening stage but has managed to continue in the race.
So far, four riders have pulled out of the 198-strong peloton which started the three-week Tour last Saturday – Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) and Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Team Sky) – all because of injuries suffered in crashes.
Germany Marcel Kittel of Argos-Shimano quit the race after 40km of racing Thursday having suffered from a stomach virus since Monday.
Friday’s sixth stage is a 207.5 km ride from Epernay to Metz.
