We’ve yet to see any official confirmation of a withdrawal [Update: Tyler as of late Monday plans to start Stage 3] and are keeping our fingers crossed. But (if true) a broken wrist, especially for a sprinter, leaves little hope Tyler can continue.

It’s a terrible shame, because Farrar was supposed to provide the biggest challenge to Mark the Mouth Cavendish, the world’s fastest human on two wheels, in sprint finishes during the Tour. Bad luck also struck Tyler yesterday in Stage 1, when he was poised (after Cavendish crashed out of contention) to slingshot into a triumphant sprint victory but got hooked by an out-of-control “Willie the Weaver” move from AG2R rider Lloyd Mondory, costing Farrar his rear derailleur and a run for victory.

Although Mondory caused the collision in a chain-of-events mishap (he was pushed from behind), Tyler wound up apologizing for unintentionally calling him a “Frog” in Flemish after the race. Clearly Farrar has had a couple of bad breaks in the Tour, figuratively and literally. And now it appears he’s out of the race before it really begins.

Bad luck and all, Farrar can’t hold a candle in the star-crossed category to fellow American competitor Christian Vande Velde, who once again crashed out of a Grand Tour (with two broken ribs) despite high hopes that his black cloud had lifted. Vande Velde crashed out of both the 2009 and 2010 Giro d’Italias.