A Broken Collarbone Doesn’t Stop Hamilton

One day after saying it was likely he would withdraw, U.S. cyclist Tyler Hamilton made a last-minute decision Monday to stay in the Tour de France despite a broken collarbone.

He suffered the injury Sunday in a chain-reaction crash that involved 35 riders and resulted in the elimination of two riders, Levi Leipheimer of the U.S. and Marc Lotz of the Netherlands.

Leipheimer has a broken pelvis, and Lotz has facial injuries and an eye fracture. Each rode for the Dutch team Rabobank.

Monday, Hamilton finished 100th in the second stage, slightly more than 126 miles from La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre to Sedan, clocking the same time as Australia’s Baden Cooke, who won in 5 hours 6 minutes 33 seconds.

Four-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who placed 54th in the stage, was awarded the same time, keeping him 11 seconds behind the overall leader, Australia’s Bradley McGee, who was 52nd. Jan Ullrich, the 1997 winner, was 21st and fifth overall, six seconds back. Hamilton said his collarbone hurt all day long, but the most important thing was that he made it to the finish.

“This morning I didn’t think I’d be able to last for 10 kilometers,” said Hamilton, who rides for the CSC Tiscali team.

“I felt a dull ache, and it hurt on the bumpier sections. Fortunately the way the race went was perfect for me. Things started easy and then went faster. If we’d gone fast at the start, I’d have been in trouble.”

How long Hamilton can continue is unclear, although he hoped to make it through Wednesday’s team time trial.

“I’m going to take it one day at a time. Now I just want to make it through tomorrow and then help the team in the time trial,” he said.

“My teammate Carlos Sastre has helped me a lot all season, and I’d like to help him by doing whatever I can in the team time trial. After that we’ll see. Fighting pain like that really tires you out, and I was tired at the end of the stage.”

Team Manager Bjarne Riis praised Hamilton for finishing the stage.

“There’s no real danger in riding as long as he can support the pain. If he made it through today he can make it through the mountains,” Riis said.

“Tyler’s very sad about what happened, but he decided he wanted to carry on. He’s worked for nine months to be at his best for the Tour de France and committed himself 100%.

“I can understand why he wants to carry on,” added Riis, who won the Tour in 1996. “He’s very brave, and we’ll do everything we can to help him.”

Cooke won the stage in a final sprint after a long trek across the French countryside.

“I can’t believe it. I don’t understand what’s going on. It’s incredible,” Cooke said after finishing at Sedan, a town bordering Belgium.

“The final sprint was very, very dangerous.... Every day you take your chances. Usually it doesn’t work, but today it worked. I’ve been thinking about winning a race like this all year.”

Said McGee: “There’s an incredible spirit in the team. That’s why we’re working well together.”

Armstrong and his formidable U.S. Postal Service team were pointing toward the team time trials and the Alps, where Armstrong hopes to pull away.

“A team like us just hopes for the mountains to come as fast as they can and get out unscathed,” said Dan Osipow, the Postal Service team’s general manager.

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At a Glance

Highlights from the second stage:

* Stage: La Ferte-sous-Jouarre to Sedan, a 126-mile route toward France’s border with Belgium.

* Winner: Baden Cooke of Australia, in 5 hours 6 minutes 33 seconds.

* How others fared: Four-time champion Lance Armstrong finished 54th. Tyler Hamilton of the U.S., riding despite a broken collarbone, placed 100th. Germany’s Jan Ullrich, a Tour winner in 1997, was 21st.

* Quote of the day: “Some of the guys have never done the Tour. They want to take risks, sort of like cowboys.” -- Lance Armstrong.

* Next stage: 104 miles from Charleville-Mezieres, home of famous French poet Arthur Rimbaud, to Saint-Dizier, toward the east of France.

* On the Web: For live updates of each day’s Tour de France stage, complete standings, cyclist profiles and course information, go to latimes.com/tour.