Lampre-ISD lose two on the way to La Toussuire-Les-Sybelles

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Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) hadn’t been enjoying his greatest Tour de France to date. With a second-place on stage four the closest he could come to victory. He was however, managing himself through the tougher stages and arrived ahead of the final groupetto on stage 10 to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. Stage 11 from Albertville to La Toussuire-Les-Sybellese was not so straightforward.

The green jersey classification winner from 2010 did not however, go so well in the second mountain stage. The Italian crashed heavily on the decent of the Col de la Croix de Fer and with over 50km and two climbs still to go, he was seen laboring toward the finish line.

Petacchi managed to get to the top of the final mountain but was outside the time limit and along with his teammate Yuriy Krivtsov, both would see their Tour de France campaign finish. Post-ride medical checks revealed that Petacchi likely incurred a number of broken ribs.

"AleJet [Petacchi] has had to deal with a fall in the descent of the Col de la Croix de Fer, an accident that forced him to a long chase, also made difficult by the bruising to the spine reported in the fall," wrote his team site, while "the cramps have slowed Yuriy Krivtsov."

The Lampre-ISD team doctor doctor released a later statement regarding their sprinting veteran.

"There could be broken ribs. Tomorrow [Friday], Petacchi will be back in Italy and he will go further investigated to assess the nature of his injuries."