Vinokourov started the 2007 Tour de France as a definite "Yellow jersey favourite," with a new team backed by the same Kazakh sponsors who had taken over Liberty Seguros in 2006 – . The Tour started well when he placed 7th in the London prologue, losing only 30 seconds to time-trial specialist Fabian Cancellara. He was ranked inside the top-10 through the second stage, and he remained in contention for the overall until the fifth stage, when he experienced a misfortune. As the peloton accelerated before the final climb, Vinokourov fell heavily at high speed and tumbled into a ditch with 25k to go. He suffered severe cuts and abrasions to both knees and elbows, and serious bruising to his right buttock. The wounded Kazakh could be seen standing on the left side of the road, gesticulating while a frantic teammate struggled to fix his leader's damaged bike.