Cycling: Jalabert taken to hospital after fall

LAURENT JALABERT was recovering in intensive care in a Madrid hospital yesterday after a serious fall during the first stage of the Tour of Castilla and Leon.

The Frenchman, who rides for the Spanish team ONCE, crashed near Palencia on Sunday, fracturing the side of his skull and breaking his right collarbone. He was taken to a hospital in Palencia where he was initially diagnosed as having a fractured collarbone and bruises to the head and shoulder.

It was not until he was moved to a hospital in Madrid that the full extent of his injuries were discovered. Doctors at the Ramon y Cajal hospital, where Jalabert was moved late on Sunday, said, however, that the cyclist's life was not in danger.

A spokeswoman yesterday described his condition as stable and said he was not suffering any complications. "He is conscious and should be moved to a regular ward later today [Monday]," the spokeswoman said.

According to the hospital Jalabert had suffered a fracture to the petrosal bone in the skull, close to right ear, as well as to the right collarbone.

The ONCE team doctor, Nicolas Terrados, who was with the team when the accident happened and insisted on Jalabert being moved to the larger Madrid hospital, said that he was relieved at the progress made by the rider.

"His condition is getting better all the time," Terrados said. "Everything's going well for him."

The rider's injury means he will almost certainly miss this year's Tour of Spain starting on 4 September, which was the Frenchman's main objective after choosing not to ride in the Tour de France in protest over the race's severe anti-doping policies.

However, his team director at ONCE, Manolo Saiz, said: "This is a question of his wellbeing. The only important thing for us at the moment is his state of health."