Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team announces that Levi Leipheimer was diagnosed to have a fibula fracture on his left leg due to the accident that occurred the day before the start of Pais Vasco, in which he was hit from behind by a car.
The x-rays examination confirmed the fracture. At the moment surgery is not necessary. However, the recovery of the rider depends on the evolution of the clinical situation.
Leipheimer has to respect a period of absolute rest of two weeks. More information on the time of his recovery will be released after this period.
"After the crash, I understood immediately something was wrong when there was swelling, and I couldn't bear weight on that side," Leipheimer said of his injury. "Now I need to stay calm and recover as fast as possible to try to be competitive for Amgen Tour of California. 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. 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. More than anything, I'm really grateful for the chance to come back from this injury. This could be a good thing for me in events like the Tour de France and the 2012 London Olympics. While the Tour of California will be more of a challenge for me now, I still have my sights set squarely on a win again this year."