Alberto Contador, the biggest favorite to take the spoils in the 101st edition of the Tour de France after Chris Froome (Team Sky) abandoned the race earlier last week, followed the fate of his British rival yesterday by crashing twice on slippery descents and fracturing his tibia.

Crushed Tinkoff-Saxo leader admitted that it was an enormous blow for him after he sacrificed many months of hard training exclusively to prepare for the French three-week event and managed to reach impressive disposition, possibly best in his entire career.

“This is a huge blow because I’ve been working towards this for months,” Contador told NIS after he abandoned the race yesterday.

“For months I’ve been sacrificing everything. I was rarely in such a top condition as now. I want to make it clear,” he added.

“But it’s how it goes in bike racing. Now it was my turn. I have to recover first and then we will move on.”

After undergoing the medical check up in the hospital which revealed a fracture of tibia, Contador was taken to Tinkoff-Saxo owner private jet and flew to Spain in order to continue medical treatment.