Kurt-Asle Arvesen is out of the Tour de France with a suspected broken collarbone.
The Saxo Bank rider crashed midway through stage ten from Limoges to Issoudun and despite successfully rejoining the peloton was clearly struggling throughout the remainder of the day. Arvesen received multiple treatments from the race doctor throughout the stage.
Cyclingnews spoke to Brian Nygaard, the team’s spokesman at the finish, who confirmed the injury: “He was very courageous getting to the finish but it looks like his left collarbone is broken. It took him a whole minute to get off the bike because of the pain. He was in a world of pain getting onto the bus.”
If Arvesen is ruled out of the race it will reduce Saxo Bank’s strength in numbers before the crucial third week of the Tour. Arvesen was part of Carlos Sastre’s Tour winning campaign in 2008 and won the Norwegian national championships in June.
“Kurt is a very hard man to replace. He was our road captain. We’ll hope for the best but expect the worst,” Nygaard added.
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