Levi Leipheimer struggling with the fracture
Levi Leipheimer of Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step has now been left out from the team after a fracture in his left leg.
The cyclist crashed during the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco after being hit by a car and was immediately transported to the hospital.
The X-ray revealed no major injuries to the cyclist and it was believed that he will be seen back on his bike in few days time.
It has now been disclosed that the American will miss his chances to ride the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco starting on Monday, 9th of April 2012.
Levi briefed, "After the crash, I understood immediately something was wrong when there was swelling, and I couldn't bear weight on that side".
He is now hoping to recover in time for the Amgen Tour of California starting from May 13th, 2012.
"Now I need to stay calm and recover as fast as possible to try to be competitive for the Amgen Tour of California," he explained.
“I am really disappointed, but the real victory here is that I survived the collision and that I'm alive to meet that challenge at all”.
Leipheimer started his professional crusade with Team Comptel-Colorado Cyclist in 1997 and spent a period of one year with the side.
He accepted an offer from Team Saturn in 1998 and assisted the side through 98-99 seasons.
The 38-year-old also represented Team US Postal (2000-01), Team Rabobank (2002-04), Team Gerolsteiner (2005-06), Team Discovery Channel (2007), Team Astana (2008-09), Team RadioShack (2010-11) and Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step for the 2012 season.
Levi has claimed a number of victories throughout his career and has already opened his 2012 winning account with an overall victory at the Tour de San Luis.
He also succeeded during the 3rd and the 4th stages of the race and was looking good to capitalize on the superb start to his 2012 campaign.
"It's amazing that all I did was break my fibula. I was in a panic state after [the collision] happened; I couldn't calm down. I can't communicate how close I came to being killed and that was incredibly scary".
The cyclist is now looking ahead to get well in time for the Tour de France, the 2012 Olympic Games and the Tour of California in the later part of the season.
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