Team RadioShack's miserable Tour de France continued on Friday when Andreas Kloeden abandoned early on Stage 13.
He had hurt his back after crashing earlier in the race, and had injured his right elbow in a fall on Thursday.
Kloeden, a two-time Tour runner-up in 2004 and '06, pulled over onto the side of the road about 40 minutes into the 152.5-kilometer (95-mile) jaunt from Pau to Lourdes in the Pyrenees. He had been riding slowly and was clearly struggling before deciding to quit.
"Immediately after the start, I felt it was impossible to go on," said Kloeden. "The speed was very high and I was not able to get power out of my legs. It is a pity, my condition was and is still very good, but there is nothing you can do against bad luck. Twice I crashed because other riders in front of me took too many risks."
Kloeden will return home to Switzerland where he will undergo scans "of his pelvis, sacrum and lower back to exclude a bulging disc and hernia," his team said in a statement.
RadioShack riders Yaroslav Popovych, Janez Brajkovic and Chris Horner were all forced to leave the race after crashes and the 36-year-old Kloeden had been designated the team leader.
His withdrawal means American Levi Leipheimer takes over as RadioShack's leading rider. Leipheimer, who is currently 17th overall, 7 minutes and 51 seconds off the pace, was third overall on the 2007 Tour but is now lagging too far behind to compete for the yellow jersey.