Tour of California injury knocks Levi off bike

<p>Santa Rosa-based cyclist Levi Leipheimer has dropped out of the upcoming Paris-Nice international race because of injuries he suffered in a fall during the Amgen Tour of California, which he won a week ago.</p><p>Leipheimer injured his lower back during the third stage of the race when he caught Lance Armstrong’s wheel about 45 miles out of Merced on Feb. 17. He has been ruled out of the Paris-Nice race on March 8-15, according to the Web site of his team, Astana.</p><p>Leipheimer has a fractured sacrum, a triangle-shaped bone at the base of the spine, according to the team and comments posted Saturday on the Santa Rosa Cycling Club Web site.</p><p>“This fracture didn’t prevent him from winning the time trial and the overall classification in the Tour of California, although he suffered from a lot of pain,” according to the Astana statement.</p><p>The report did not indicate how long Leipheimer will be away from racing.</p><p>On the day he was injured, Leipheimer said: “I just looked down for a second and wasn’t fully concentrating in that moment. It was windy out there so it was hard to hold a straight line in the peloton.</p><p>"I looked down, the guys moved over a little bit, and we crossed wheels. It happens. It hurts a little bit. I can feel it on my butt -- that's where I landed. I’ve done it before.”</p><p>Leipheimer continued to race, winning the time trial three days later and going on to win the victory, his third Tour of California championship in a row.</p><p>On Thursday, the rider suggested on his Twitter page that the injury might be more serious than he had originally thought: "I've been taking it pretty easy since the race, my hip still hurts from stage 3 crash."</p><p>Leipheimer got an MRI on Friday and reported that it "doesn't look good."</p><p>He acknowledged the fracture Saturday, then went on to add some detail. "I can still ride my bike but have to go really easy," he wrote. "It will probably take another 10 days at least before the pain goes away?"</p><p>Then he added: "The thing that hurts the most is throwing my leg over the bike getting on or off."</p>