Horner breaks collarbone at Elk Grove

By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

The second stage of the Tour of Elk Grove near Chicago was a 150km flat road race that unsurprisingly came down to a field sprint. However the narrow 90-degree final turn 600 metres from the finish proved to be too much, sending the lead riders to the ground. Among them was Astana's Chris Horner who took the worst of it, breaking his collarbone.

Horner was in the top-10 entering the final turn when the crash occurred. He was able to ride across the line but holding his arm. He was transported to a nearby hospital where the break was diagnosed.

The injury comes at an inopportune time for the American as his Astana team is targeting the Vuelta a España after watching the Tour de France from the sidelines. Horner told Cyclingnews that it is too early to tell what the collarbone break will do for the rest of his season, but that he had been planning on racing the Vuelta.