The first casualty of this year’s cycling spectacle was only a matter of time.

It seems cycling always has its fair share of troubles eh? After cancer slowed down multi-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong and the way steroids put a damp on the success of last year’s championship contender Michael Rasmussen, it seems cycling has another hurdle to overcome this time.

The first casualty of the 2008 Tour de France came when the reigning King of the Mountains, Juan Mauricio Soler, was forced to miss the rest of the tournament after suffering a rather severe wrist injury.

Juan Mauricio Soler fractured a bone on opening day while competing on the very first leg of the tournament tat stretched from Brest to Plumelec. Like a champion, Soler tried his best to play through it but after struggling during the next three days, his attempt to play through the injury got harder and harder.

And just when you thought the guy will finally be able to still compete, he fell last Wednesday, ultimately ending his bid to win this year’s premiere cycling extravaganza.

This is a huge loss to the 2008 Tour since Soler, hence from his moniker ‘King of the Mountain’ is one of the top climbers there is in the sport and with the Massif Central calling for the best climbers of cycling Thursday for the Tour’s ‘hilly leg,'’ Soler missing out on it is so unfortunate.

Soler, 25, won the polka dot jersey in his first Tour, after a stunning breakaway climb on stage nine last year, on the Alpine pass of the Col du Galibier. He attacked in the Pyrenees to secure the mountains jersey, the third Colombian after Luis Herrera and Santiago Botero to achieve the feat.

Who will win the 2008 Tour de France? SBG Global provides a list of the top cyclists you can bet on. Bet now.

Stefan Schumacher

Mark Cavendish

Cadel Evans

Alejandro Valverde

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2008 Tour de France Juan Mauricio Soler