Riders hit, injured in Tour de France shooting join start for 14th stage

COLMAR, France — The 14th stage of the Tour de France is under way with Oscar Freire of Spain and Julian Dean of New Zealand in the pack a day after being slightly injured when they were hit by projectiles on French roads.

Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy has donned the yellow jersey for a seventh straight race day for a 124-mile trek from Colmar to Besancon.

Seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong and 2007 winner Alberto Contador are trailing just seconds behind Nocentini.

Breakaway riders set the early pace in Saturday’s ride, the last before riders head into the Alps in the third and final week.

Dean and Freire were shot at from an air rifle, their teams suspect, during a downhill ride Friday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

COLMAR, France (AP) — Lance Armstrong lost a crucial ally for the rest of the Tour de France when teammate Levi Leipheimer withdrew because of a broken wrist. Julian Dean and Oscar Freire were lightly injured by shots from a suspected air rifle from the roadside.

For a day when nothing changed atop the standings, Friday sure was an eventful one.

Armstrong remained third after the 124-mile stage through the rolling hills of northeast France that featured three big climbs, including the demanding Col du Platzerwasel.

“It was really, really cold. To be honest I don’t remember a day in the Tour that has been colder than that one,” Armstrong told The Associated Press. “I guess that tactically it was pretty uneventful, none of the others favorites attacked. Perhaps the Platzerwasel wasn’t as hard as we expected.”

Freire and Dean, who are expected to start Saturday’s stage, were hit during the descent, about 22 miles from the finish of the stage between Vittel and Colmar won by German rider Heinrich Haussler, who outclassed the pack with a solo breakaway.

Police were investigating the case.

A projectile embedded in Freire’s thigh was removed by a Rabobank team doctor. Dean’s right index finger was injured, said Marya Pongrace, a spokeswoman for his Garmin-Slipstream team.

Both cyclists were expected to start Saturday’s mostly flat 14th stage, a 124-mile trek through plains from Colmar to Besancon, their teams said.

Armstrong, who raised concerns about his own security on the race after announcing his comeback last year, remained 8 seconds behind race leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy, who is not regarded as a potential Tour winner.

Armstrong’s Astana teammate and main rival Alberto Contador, the Tour winner in 2007, is second, 2 seconds ahead of Armstrong.

Norway’s Thor Hushovd retrieved the green jersey awarded to the Tour’s best sprinter from Mark Cavendish of Britain, and Franco Pellizotti from Italy took the polka-dot jersey of the best climber off Spain’s Egoi Martinez.

Even without Levi Leipheimer, who was fourth overall before his withdrawal with a broken wrist following a crash on Thursday, the Astana team was able to control the stage.

It could be a far different story during Sunday’s first Alpine stage, where the torpor among the favorites since the Pyrenees last week is likely to end.

“I mean, that one is almost a guarantee because it’s uphill,” Armstrong said by phone. “For sure it’s a decisive stage and exciting for the fans. Very different than what we’ve seen since Andorra.”

Leipheimer and Armstrong have a close relationship within Astana, which Armstrong says is riven by “tension” with Contador.

“He’s a good friend of mine so it makes it even more unfortunate, but that’s cycling,” said Armstrong, stressing that Leipheimer’s absence is a big loss.

“You saw even there, in some stages in the Pyrenees, when there was an attack, we had four guys there. And now, one’s gone,” Armstrong said. “Not only does it hurt us, I think it helps the others in terms of morale, and thinking perhaps that the team has been weakened.”

Astana’s rivals were happy to see Leipheimer go.

“What is the best for us is that they are one guy less, it gives some opening,” said Hendrik Redant, sporting director of the Silence-Lotto team of two-time Tour runner-up Cadel Evans.

Leipheimer, a four-time top-10 finisher at the Tour, including a third-place finish in 2007, was a close ally to Armstrong in the Astana team. His absence could also deliver a severe blow to the Texan’s ambitions in his duel with Contador, who is regarded as the best climber in the world.

Armstrong, who was surprised by Contador’s move to overtake him in the first Pyrenean stage, expects another fierce battle with the Spaniard in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier on Sunday.

“He is going to be good there,” Armstrong said. “It’s my intention to be up there too.”

Contador said Sunday’s ride isn’t likely to separate the main title contenders, insisting the 5.47-mile uphill finish up to Verbier is too short to give contenders enough space to make large time gaps.

“This layout isn’t favorable to attacks,” Contador said. “There should have been more uphill finishes … I would have liked a different type of course.”

Leipheimer fell off his bike and broke his wrist in the last two miles of Thursday’s stage. He had surgery on the wrist Friday, and Astana said he would return to the United States as soon as possible to begin his recovery.

Haussler, a 25-year-old Cervelo rider who won a stage at Paris-Nice in March, raced ahead of the second of two fellow breakaway riders in the last 31 miles and continued to build a gap on the peloton as the finish neared.

The German, who claimed his first stage victory on the Tour, crossed the line 4:11 ahead of Amets Txurruka of Spain. Brice Feillu of France was third, 6:13 back.

“I was really happy. I just got teary,” said Haussler, who was born in Australia to a German father. “I just couldn’t believe it. … I was just so nervous that I was going to crash. It’s a really big win for me.”

Associated Press Writer Greg Keller contributed to this report.