Bobby says “I hate to say this, but I believe Floyd Landis lost the overall lead for good Wednesday at the Tour de France.” More …

This is terrible news to report, but Bobby has crashed in the time trial, and is out of the Tour de France. It looked he just took a corner too fast and his front wheel lost traction. He slid hard into a curb. It looks like he was standing, but he could not continue and was shown getting into an ambulance.

Reports say he looked to have injured his wrist.

The Team CSC veteran appeared to have injured his right wrist, which he clutched, grimacing in pain. He also tore his shorts and suffered scrapes.

The latest info on Bobby from Team CSC …

Julich had x-rays done at the hospital in Rennes on Saturday afternoon and team doctor Joost De Maeseneer commented:

“First off the x-rays show no fractures, but he has a big open wound on his right wrist. When they’ve cleaned it up properly, they’ll be able to examine it further during surgery here in Rennes. Bobby will be staying in hospital over night and later on a scan will show, whether he has any fractures.”

Additional quotes from CyclingNews.com …

“There are apparently no fractures,” CSC team director Alain Gallopin said. “Nevertheless, they will keep him overnight and he will have a little surgery to clean the wound properly. You could see the bone and the tendons, so the wound is rather deep.

Gallopin added that the crash did not happen out of a lack of concentration of his rider. “He knew the course and has the experience of riding fast even in corners, but there was a lot of gravel at that particular junction, as people walked over the graveled sidewalk, and some of it ended up on the road. His wheel just slid,” he added.

Carlos Sastre comments …

I didn’t know about Bobby’s crash before crossing the finish line. It is sad because he was very important in the team, which means that we have to go on without two of our main riders.”

Bobby shown here starting the time trial. Unfortuneatly he wasn’t able to finish. See another photo of Bobby riding just before the crash.

If you have well wishes for Bobby, you can add your comments to this post by clicking on the comments link below.

McEwen had another great leadout from a teammate and took his 11th career stage win in the Tour de France. Bobby finished safely in the bunch in 58th place. Bobby now looks forward to the stage 7 time trial. Stage 6 results.

Bobby’s ESPN Diary: Time trial is my chance to make a mark.

There are going to be another 25-30 riders who are going to give the same 100-percent effort, that are going for the stage win and the yellow jersey. I expect to see a lot more Americans dominate the top 10 and I hope to top that list. I am definitely not going to call my shot here (a la Babe Ruth), but if I can have a day like I hope to have, I’ll be in contention at the Tour.

Then, there will be a little pressure.

USA Today says: Time trial first big test for Tour contenders.

For now, Julich and the other strong time-trialists will be looking to Saturday’s stage as the beginning of a winning campaign.

“Team CSC still has a plan, as we have some other bullets in the gun,” Julich says. “After the time trial it will be clear who the leader is.”

Graham Watson photos from stage 6 include another great shot of Bobby…

Predicting the Time Trial

There are all kinds of predictions on who will win the time trial on stage 7. If things are anything close to the results of last year’s 55 km Time Trial stage, we could see Bobby in yellow tomorrow!