Astana Cycling Team

Since his impressive crash during the 9th stage of Tour de France, Alexandre Vinokourov didn’t compete for any race, proud of his good recovery he wants to take part in Chrono des Nations.

Alexandre Vinokourov was operated on a fractured right femur on July 10th. After a visit to his surgeon Professor Yves Catoné, at the Hospital of La Pitié Salpêtrière (in Paris), exams have shown his good recovery and Alexandre had announced that he would take part in the Tour of Lombardy 2011.

In recent weeks, the Kazakh champion trains on the roads of the Maritime Alps and northern Italy, often with other riders who live in this region. As yesterday, he was with his friend Philippe Gilbert and the champion Eddy Merckx, Alexandre explains, "During my last training I thought a lot about my return to competition. I feel good on the road, but I do not want to take risks with my health. I prefer to start with an individual time trial; it is a discipline in which the risk of crash is lower than in a Classic race, among a bunch. So I decided to take part in Chrono des Nations instead of the Tour of Lombardy. It's a race I won in 2009, but this year I don’t presume to place myself as a favorite, I come back first to get the race pace back and above all to greet my supporters who have brought so much support in recent months, I am truly grateful of them! "

So Alexandre Vinokourov will be on the road of Les Herbiers in Vendée next Sunday, October 16th for the 30th Chrono des Nations.