One of the main contenders for the Tour de France victory, Spain's Alejandro Valverde, has left the competition. And this time, it wasn't because the doping scandal arisen in the world of cycling, but for a crash in yesterday's stage. Although on "flat", the peloton managed to make another victim. And it didn't happen in the end, like the past few stages, but in the mid-race.

The 26 year old Spaniard got unlucky 19 kilometers to the finish line, when he suffered a terrible crash inside the peloton. He was immediately taken to the hospital, where the doctors gave him a very cruel verdict: broken collarbone. The result? Immediate retirement from the race and further medical investigations. And it came in the worst time possible for Valverde.

First, Le Tour managed to "get rid" of his all-time champion, Lance Armstrong. The American decided to retire last year. More, just hours before the race started off, Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francesco Macebo also had to say good-bye to the competition, after being involved with the "Saiz affair". Astana Wurth was also taken out of the competition, leaving another favorite on the "outside": Alexander Vinokourov.

So it may have been Valverde's time for a maiden win in the Grand Boucle. And he was very confident about it, too. Just before the stage, he stated that the yellow jersey may be a possibility at the finish line. Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Bal�ars team is now without their leader and will try to continue the Tour with cyclists like Vladimir Karpets and Oscar Periero.

Some other cyclists had to say good-bye to the Tour before the first week ended. Their names are Erik Dekker and Fred Rodriguez. Both cyclists crashed into a concrete wall in Valkenburg, 59 kilometers from the finish line, and were diagnosed with severe injuries that will keep them away from Le Tour.