Valverde crashes out of Tour de France

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) Alejandro Valverde, a podium finisher in 2015, has crashed out of the Tour de France in the opening time trial on rain-slickened roads, dealing a blow to his teammate Nairo Quintana's hopes of winning the race.

Quintana had been counting on Valverde, a Tour veteran, to help him overthrow defending champion Chris Froome of Team Sky.

But the Movistar rider's wheels slid from under him on a left-hand bend on the course in Duesseldorf on Saturday, sending him sliding hard into metal barriers.

The Tour announced on its website that Valverde was out of the race and had been taken away in an ambulance.