Levi's crash pulls him out of the Tour; Armstrong in 3rd

Santa Rosa’s Levi Leipheimer withdrew from the Tour de France on Friday after suffering a broken right wrist in the final moments of Thursday’s 12th stage.

Leipheimer, 35, was just 39 seconds behind race leader Rinaldo Nocentini and in fourth place in the three-week race heading into the final week. Astana teammates Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong are in second and third place, respectively, six and eight seconds behind Ag2r’s Nocentini.

“The pain in the wrist is one thing, but seeing you guys roll off without me is immeasurable,” Leipheimer said in a video posted to his Twitter account Friday morning.

Leipheimer later posted photos from his surgery table in Toul, France. Surgeons inserted a 22mm-titanium screw into his wrist.

Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel told VeloNews that Leipheimer “potentially could have won the Tour.”

The loss of Leipheimer, a strong climber and time trialist, would dramatically affect team strategy as Astana pushes both Armstrong and Contador into the final, mountain-heavy stages in the final week.

“It’s in the mountains and that is where Levi was going to be crucial,” Bruyneel said in Leipheimer’s Twitter video. “We’ll have to change a few things and be a little smarter.”

Other teams will likely attack the Astana crew, Bruyneel said.

“They know that when they go, they are not going to have four Astana guys following them, they are going to have three,” he said.

Armstrong had ridden in support of Leipheimer both in the Tour of California in February and May’s Giro d’Italia. Leipheimer had promised to repay his friend and training partner while in France, pacing him up the mountains until Armstrong was ready for an attack.

With a team that potentially could have loyalty issues between Armstrong and Contador, a trusted friend could make a difference.

Leipheimer touched wheels with another rider and crashed on a corner curb with about 1.5 miles left in the 12th stage. He was originally diagnosed with contusions and road rash, but X-rays later revealed a double fracture.

“About to have surgery,” Leipheimer said from the hospital via Twitter on Friday afternoon.

“They’re putting a screw in the scaphoid, traverse fracture. They’re taking good care of me here in France.”

This was Leipheimer’s seventh Tour de France. He also crashed out of the 2003 event after fracturing his tailbone in a pileup with more than 40 other riders in the first stage. His best finish was third in the 2007 Tour de France, 31 seconds behind Contador.

Leipheimer was enjoying a career-best 2009 season. He won his third consecutive Tour of California, won the Sea Otter road race and won the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon.

Despite his success, Leipheimer also crashed out of the Paris-Nice stage race in late February with a fractured sacrum. He returned to Europe to compete in the Giro in May and finished sixth.

It’s unknown when Leipheimer will be able to return to training.

“If we win the Tour, I hope you can be back in Paris for a celebration,” Bruyneel said.

“We’ll ride on in your honor,” Armstrong added.

Press Democrat correspondent James Raia and Cox Newspapers also contributed to this report.