Tour De France 2011

This is interesting:

2002: 189 starters, 5 withdrawals due to crashes, 2.65% attrition
2003: 198 starters, 6 withdrawals due to crashes, 3.03% attrition
2004: 188 starters, 10 withdrawals due to crashes, 5.32% attrition
2005: 189 starters, 8 withdrawals due to crashes, 4.23% attrition
2006: 176 starters, 4 withdrawals due to crashes, 2.27% attrition
2007: 189 starters, 9 withdrawals due to crashes, 4.76% attrition
2008: 180 starters, 4 withdrawals due to crashes, 2.22% attrition
2009: 180 starters, 5 withdrawals due to crashes, 2.78% attrition
2010: 197 starters, 9 withdrawals due to crashes, 4.57% attrition
2011: 198 starters, 16 withdrawals due to crashes, 8.08% attrition

List of reasons:

Some say the race has used too many narrow roads (but others counter that many crashes haven’t happened at tricky points)
Some blame carbon rims and over-rigid frames (but these were in use last year)
Perhaps the weather is a factor (but it has rained a lot in past editions when the race crosses northern France)
Maybe the lack of a prologue has left too many riders in contention, making the bunch more nervous?
I’ve read some claims that riders losing weight for the mountains get more brittle bones, meaning a crash causes bone fractures
Some say race radios mean riders can’t hear what’s going on because of the crackle in the ear
Similarly team orders barked over the radio mean riders are “forced” by their team manager to go the front
The size of the field is too big in relation, especially in relation to the multiplication of “street furniture” in recent years
There could be a feedback loop with more crashes making more riders nervous, so more pressure to fight to get to the front
And what about sheer bad luck?

http://inrng.com/2011/07/crashes-falls-and-fallacies/#more-4234