Lance may be out of the Tour de France!

This is from an article written by Ciaran Giles for the AP:

Lance Armstrong fractured his collarbone Monday during a race in Spain, leaving in question his participation in the Tour de France in July. The seven-time Tour champion said he will fly to the United States and meet with medical experts to decide whether he needs surgery. "We'll go from there," he said. "I think for the Tour it's a very big problem."
In a statement released later Monday, the 37-year-old said he had "been lucky to avoid one of the most common cycling injuries" in his 17-year career. "The crash has put my upcoming calendar in jeopardy, but the most important thing for me right now is to get back home and rest up and begin my rehab," Armstrong said.

Armstrong is scheduled to compete in the Giro d'Italia from May 9-May 31. The Tour runs July 4-26.

He was knocked off his bike during a pileup in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon race and was taken to a hospital by ambulance. The American, who crashed about 12.5 miles from the stage's finish, was grimacing and trying to hold his right arm as he entered the ambulance.
"The collarbone is broken, and I have a little bit of road-rash abrasions," Armstrong said as he left Valladolid University Hospital. "I've never had this happen before; it's pretty painful. I feel really miserable." Astana team leader Johan Bruyneel said on his Twitter feed that there were no complications in the break, and suggested Armstrong could be back riding soon. "Clean collarbone fracture," Bruyneel said. "Should be fast recovery."
After falling off his bike, Armstrong sat in the grass beside the road, his right shoulder slumped and his wrist resting on his right thigh. When help arrived, he motioned toward his right shoulder. Armstrong eventually walked to the ambulance and climbed into the back.

Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer described the pileup on his Twitter feed. "Lance was involved in a huge crash as the road narrowed and became very rough," Leipheimer wrote. "He wasn't far from the front, as he was riding top 10 all day."

Armstrong said the crash was no one's fault.

As the article stated, Lance has been lucky through his career at avoiding this type of crash and injury. A broken collarbone is one of the most common injuries in cycling and this is the first time it has happened to Lance. But this seriously jeopardizes his attempt to ride another Tour de France. I am pretty sure he will miss the Giro in May and it looks like he will have to have surgery so the likelihood of him racing in France is slim. This is a major blow to team Astana and the changes for Lance or Levi to win the Yellow Jersey in July. Levi should still be one of the favorites going in to the race, but without Lance on his team, it is just going to be harder for him to win it all.