Alberto Contador escapes 'major disaster' in final kilometre Basque Country crash

Defending Tour of the Basque Country champion Alberto Contador was caught up in a crash with 700 metres to go in the 2017 race's opening stage

Alberto Contador will be playing it cool with his Tour de France preparations (Credit: Yuzuru Sunada)

(Image credit: Yuzuru Sunada)

Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) has said that he escaped 'major disaster' after crashing within the final kilometre of the opening stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on Monday.

The 34-year-old defending champion was caught up in a crash just 700 metres before the finish line and rolled home over a minute down on stage winner Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb).

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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.