Vyatcheslav Ekimov of Russia cycles to win the time trial gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Vyacheslav Ekimov Knocked Out of Tour de France
Russian most famous cyclist, two-time Olympics champion Vyacheslav Ekimov was knocked down by a car, when he was training in Texas last week. Ekimov broke the breast bone, a rib and a thoracic vertebra. The 39-year old cyclist arrived in St. Petersburg Monday to undergo a course of treatment, but already now it is clear Ekimov won’t take part in the Tour de France.
Kommersant managed yesterday to reach Ekimov by phone in Paris, where the cyclist was changing planes en route to St. Petersburg. Ekimov declined to elaborate. He only mentioned he will undergo treatment in the Army Medical Academy. His coach Alexander Kuznetsov specified that the heavy injuries killed the chances of taking part in the Tour de France by 95 percent. Vyacheslav Ekimov is a member of the Discovery Channel team and a permanent aide to the six-time Tour de France Winner Lance Armstrong of the U.S. This year’s Tour that starts in July will be the last in Armstrong’s carrier. For Ekimov it would have been the 15th Tour de France. The U.S. media reported the accident happened during the joint training of two starts of Discovery Channel.
Alexander Kuznetsov told Kommersant Ekimov doesn’t intend to quit. The broken vertebra hasn’t hit the spinal cord, the coach pointed out, referring to Vyacheslav Ekimov himself. “With correct treatment in St. Petersburg, the chances that Ekimov will be able to start training in a few months are rather strong. Anyway, Vyachslav has never told me he is thinking of dropping his sports carrier,” Kuznetsov said.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 03, 2005
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