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Saint-Flour - Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan has pulled out of the Tour de France after crashing at high speed during a descent in Sunday's ninth stage.
Vinokourov was one of several riders caught up in the crash on a slippery road 102 kms into the stage between Issoire and Saint-Flour in the Massif Central, falling into a wooded area.
Vinokourov landed in a ditch on the right side of the road with riders reaching speeds of more than 70km/h. He was attended to by the race doctor before several of his Astana team-mates helped him back up to the road.
Vinokourov, who has said this would be his last Tour, finished third at the 2003 race. He is also the 2006 Vuelta champion.
He served a two-year doping suspension after twice testing positive for banned blood transfusions during the 2007 Tour.
Omega Pharma team leader Jurgen Van Den Broeck fell in the crash and had to pull out with a suspected knee injury. Van Den Broeck, who finished fifth last year in his second appearance on the Tour, tried to get back on his bike but quickly realised he was not able to continue racing.
Other riders involved in the pile-up included RadioShack leader Andreas Kloeden and British rider David Millar from the Garmin team. Both were able to return to the race.
