American cyclist Levi Leipheimer withdrew from the 2009 Tour de France on Friday with a broken wrist.
He suffered the break on Thursday's run-in to the finish in Vittel. Since the crash occurred within 3 kilometers of the finish line, the rider on the Astana team didn't lose any time.
Leipheimer was sitting in 4th place in the overall battle for the yellow jersey, 39 seconds behind the leader. I'm sure he'll be sorely missed by teammates Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, who sit in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Team manager Johan Bruyneel said the team will have to change its tactics over the last week with Leipheimer gone. He said the Californian was one of the riders who potentially could have won the Tour.
At Leipheimer's Twitter account:
surgery, they're putting a screw in the Scaphoid, transverse fracture.
They're taking very good care of me here in France.”
OnThursday, Leipheimer described the crash and said how his wrist hurt but it wasn't broken.
Here's hoping a fast recovery for this year's Tour of California winner.
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