Team HTC-Columbia's Adam Hansen will not start in stage two of the 2010 Tour de France due to broken bones resulting from a crash early in the first stage of the Tour taking the riders from Rotterdam to Brussels.

Hansen put in a heroic effort to finish stage 1 and was even present in front in the final kilometers - on sports director Brian Holm's orders - in a bid to bring back the breakaway group for a sprint finish. Following the stage he was taken directly to a Buxelles hospital for CT scans which unfortunately showed broken bones.

"I'm extremely disappointed," Hansen said after returning from hospital and added "I was really looking forward to this tour and I'm upset now that we have to continue with only eight riders.

"It was one of those freak crashes. I briefly saw something on the road before I hit it and my bike skid across the field. Most riders managed to avoid me but at the last second I hit the back wheel of another rider and went down."

Hansen will be taken to the Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallkrankenhaus, which is one of the best orthopaedic hospitals in Germany and a partner of Team HTC-Columbia owner High Road Sports, for further treatment.

"We are very happy with the immediate care he received at the hospital here in Brussels," Team Doctor Helge Riepenhof commented. Riepenhof added "Hansen will now travel to our hospital in Hamburg so that we can make decisions on the best treatment."

"Adam displayed amazing loyalty to the team today by finishing the race and working extremely hard towards the end," Team Owner Bob Stapleton said. "He is an extremely valuable rider and we will definitely miss him at this Tour de France. For now his health is the most important thing and we want to give him the best care for a quick recovery."