Vinokourov’s saga ends in a ditch

ST FLOUR, France, July 10 (Reuters) - Alexandre Vinokourov
had one last goal to achieve in the race which brought him fame,
glory but also disgrace -- to finally hold the Tour de France
leader's yellow jersey at least for one day. 

The Kazakh's dream ended in a roadside ditch on Sunday when
he was involved in a massive pile-up in the descent of a Massif
Central mountain pass in the ninth stage between Issoire and St
Flour. 

Unable to stand, Vinokourov was attended to by the race
doctor and two team mates who lifted him off the ground and
brought him into an ambulance and away from the Tour with a
fractured thigh bone. 

Only the previous day, on the road to the ski-resort of
Super-Besse, the Astana team leader had attacked on his own to
try to seize the Tour lead in what he had announced would be his
last professional season. 

"I worked as a team captain for Alberto Contador on the last
Tour but I want to give it another try as a leader," the Kazakh
said on the Tour de Romandie in May. 

"I'm not expecting to win it. But I dream of holding the
yellow jersey, as I've never had the chance to, and to hold it
for a few days. Or go for the best climber's polka dot." 

Third in the Tour in 2003, winner of the Spanish Vuelta in
2006, 'Vino' was a serious contender in the 2007 Tour as the
leader of the team named after Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. 

Winner of a crucial individual time-trial in Albi, he was
disqualified the next day for carrying out a blood transfusion
and was handed a two-year suspension. 

Such was his stature among cyclists that the scandal was
another trauma for the sport. 

"Oh no, not him, not Vino! If a guy of his class has done
that then we may as well pack our bags and go home," said Briton
David Millar on learning the news during a drama-filled 2007rest
day in Pau. 

Vino returned from suspension in 2009 as a simple team mate
for Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong in the very Astana team
he had helped create for his own purposes. 

Armstrong left the following season and Contador at the
endof 2010, giving Vinokourov a last chance to ride his final
season as a team leader. 

Following his suspension, his country's best known sportsman
showed he was still a force to reckon with, winning the
Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic and a Tour de France stage last
year. 

He also won a Tour de Romandie stage this season before
finishing third in the Criterium du Dauphine.