Team BMC Racing's Mathias Frank Exits 2010 Tour de France

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07/4/2010| 0 comments
by Thomas A. Valentinsen

Team BMC Racing's Mathias Frank Exits 2010 Tour de France

The BMC Racing Team will start Stage 1 of the Tour de France without Mathias Frank, who suffered a broken right thumb, a torn muscle in his left thigh and a badly cut lip in a high-speed crash during Saturday's Tour de France 2010 prologue.

July 03, 2010 - Rotterdam, NETHERLANDS - epa02235828 BMC team rider Mathias Frank of Switzerland seen injured after a crash, cycles during the prologue of the 97th Tour de France 2010 cycling race in Rotterdam, 03 July 2010. The 198 riders begin the 2010 Tour de France with an individual lap of the 8,9km circuit around Rotterdam.

The BMC Racing Team will start Stage 1 of the Tour de France without Mathias Frank, who suffered a broken right thumb, a torn muscle in his left thigh, and a badly cut lip in a high-speed crash during Saturday's Tour de France 2010 prologue.

Racing on rain-soaked streets in his first Tour de France, the 23-year-old Swiss crashed in a broad-sweeping, right-hand curve on the 8.9-kilometer course. "My back wheel slipped away on the painted lines," Frank said. "I thought I could get control again but I was too close to the barriers and hit the barriers going pretty fast." He is expected to be off the bike for at least a week.

BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue said losing a rider in the Tour is always big, especially so early in the three-week race. "It's a loss for the team and a loss for Mathias because the Tour de France is always a dream for every rider," he said. "We know we still have a strong team around Cadel Evans and we are already focusing on the next stages."

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