Garmin-Sharp have revealed that this year's Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal has pulled out of the 2012 Tour de France ahead of today's seventh stage from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles.
Hesjedal suffered injuries to his left hip and leg in yesterday's horror crash 25km from the finish. Numerous riders were involved in the incident and Hesjedal, who had started the day in the top ten in the general classification, lost over 13 minutes to drop out of contention. More of a problem is the pain he is in, however, and the Canadian and his team have decided that he is unable to continue.
"Hesjedal is not going to start. Sad, but he'll be back," Garmin-Sharp team boss Jonathan Vaughters wrote on his Twitter account.
Almost all of Hesjedal's Garmin-Sharp teammates were involved in the crash and the team has had a nightmare first week of the Tour de France. Crack sprinter Tyler Farrar has hit the floor four times already, while Tom Danielson abandoned yesterday after his second heavy fall of the race.
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