fly:yes/land:no

so the most dramatic aspect of today's stage at the tour wasn't an attack on the final climb. it wasn't a daring descent to the finish. it wasn't the peloton chasing down a break with 500m to go and an ensuing sprint to the line. it was the chaos resulting from some one peppering the summit of the final climb with tacks. while the broadcast covered the race for yellow, and the politics between pierre roland, lotto, liquigas, and bmc, another story was unfolding as a result of a tack induced punctures.

briefly, the camera showed astana rider robert kiserlovski, a 25 year old croatian, sitting on the side of the road holding his shoulder. kiserlovski had fallen victim to one of the tacks, and crashed hard while descending on a rapidly deflating tire. the result - a likely broken collarbone.

the injury is a shame for kiserlovski, who is in the midst of a career year and was on track to complete his first tour de france. 2012 season highlights include a 5th at fleche wallone, a 9th place overall ranking at paris-nice, and a 7th place overall ranking at volta a catalunya where he finished with the same time as gt contenders damiano cunego, denis menchov, juregen van den broeck, and dan martin. kiserlovski has also animated many of the stages in this year's tour, and finished 5th out of the stage 12 breakaway.

the suspected broken collarbone also likely ends the olympic bid for kiserlovski who was already named to the croatian 2012 squad - it would have been his first olympics.

pathetic that someone would put tacks on the road, especially at a spot where the riders are so vulnerable to injury in the instance of a puncture. if they find the guy who did this, he should face criminal charges for the injuries sustained by kiserlovski.

jdon

You about summed it up.

Bacciagalupe

I'm sure the guys who threw the tacks down will be chastened by your comments. On a Web forum. In a language they probably don't read.

fly:yes/land:no

the point isn't to chastise; it is to share the story of a racer outside of the top 10 on gc who is not named sagan, cavendish, or goss.

i am reading now that the crash happened when levi hit kiserlovski, who was going to swap wheels with his team leader, janez brajkovic. still a pity.

gpsblake

How horrible, could have killed someone had these tacks been put on the downhill section. Hopefully no idiot copycats will happen, they will catch the person responsible, and he spends a good time in prison for multiple assault charges.

tntyz

I think that is one reason they all slow down to let people catch up. If tacks made a difference, then it would happen again and again. Shameful.

wabbit

they're not even sure they'll be able to find the idiots who did this. Poor guy, lucky it's only a broken collarbone. It'll heal and he'll do the tour next year, hopefully. ANd for sure he'll be ok and will be able to have some of the season left. But it could have been worse. It's not a funny prank! the only thing that should be on the pavement are the names and stuff that people paint!