Leopard Trek rider Jens Voigt won't be starting stage six of the Amgen Tour of California today due to a broken wrist. The injury was likely caused when the likeable German hit the pavement on the final circuits of stage four. He was able to complete the fifth stage the following day, but his team announced that he was diagnosed with a broken scaphoid bone and would not continue.
Today is the time trial stage in Solvang, a day where Voigt would be unable to help his team leader Andy Schleck. The Luxembourger currently sits in sixth place, 1 minute and 30 seconds behind race leader Chris Horner.
Voigt has had bad luck with crashes over the past couple of seasons. In 2009 he went down hard in stage 16 of the Tour de France while descending the the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard. His front wheel inexplicably lost traction, sending him to the ground face first. He lost consciousness, with the end result being a concussion, broken cheekbone and having his Tour ticket punched for a trip to the hospital. Last year was a sort of déjà vu for the then Saxo Bank rider, when, again in stage 16, his front wheel blew out on the high speed descent of the Col de Peyresourde throwing him to the ground.
”I'm doing 70 kilometer an hour on the first descent when my front tire explodes,” Voigt explained after the stage. “Before I hit the asphalt I actually manage to think that ‘this is going to hurt’. Both knees, elbows, hands, shoulders and the entire left side of my body were severely hurt. My ribs are hurting but hey, broken ribs are overrated anyway.”
The team said that Voigt would require an operation before he will be able to return to racing.