Kreder, Péraud, Soler out of Dauphiné

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Three more riders have left the Critérium du Dauphiné due to injuries. Garmin-Transitions' Michel Kreder crashed out of Wednesday's time trial, and Jean-Christophe Péraud of Omega Pharma-Lotto has withdrawn due to injuries suffered in a crash on Monday's first stage. Mauricio Soler of Caisse d'Epargne missed the time cut-off for the time trial.

Kreder crashed in the middle of the race against the clock and was unable to continue riding. “I smashed into a wall on the descent, have three stitches above my lip, fractured collar bone and some road rash,” he said on his Twitter page. It is not known how long he will be out of competition.

Omega-Pharma Lotto announced Wednesday night that Péraud would not be at the start of Thursday's stage. The rider “was particularly badly battered on Monday by a fall, which left him scraped from head to toe. Our French time trial champion still managed to bite through Tuesday's stage and the time trial today, but then got a fever this evening,” the team said.

Péraud will now rest for a few days before preparing for the national championships and the Tour de France.

Soler finished the time trial 24:21 behind winner Janez Brajkovic, and was eliminated from the race. The Colombian climber had suffered a knee injury in the first stage, and will now rest up before further training.

Rabobank had good news from its two riders who were also injured in crashes on Monday. Examinations at a Dutch hospital found no fractures for Dennis van Winden, and Paul Martens is expected to be able to leave the hospital in Valence, France, soon. He suffered several broken ribs and a torn kidney.