Contador crashes in Tour de France first stage (Reuters)

By Julien Pretot UTAH BEACH, France (Reuters) – Alberto Contador’s Tour de France chances suffered an early blow on Saturday when the Spaniard crashed with about 80 km left in the first stage. “I came into the corner, there was a traffic island and my front wheel hit it and then I fell back on the curb.” Contador, who has not won the Tour since 2009 but has had a strong build-up to the event as he looks to beat pre-race favorites Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana, has crashed several times on the Tour in recent years. “(Brent) Bookwalter crashed in front of him and took Alberto out.