SALT LAKE CITY, July 21 (UPI) -- David Zabriskie is no Lance Armstrong but fans say take another look in a few years at one of the fastest rising stars in professional cycling.
Zabriskie, a Salt Lake City native, raced in his first Tour de France this year and was actually wearing the leader's yellow jersey for the first three days until a mechanical problem with his bike made him crash and surrender his lead to Armstrong.
He bruised some ribs and injured his left thigh and arm in the wreck and was forced to drop out a week later.
A pro since 2001 and a resident of Spain now, he was almost done in earlier when hit by a SUV and badly injured. It took him two years to recover.
"He is strong," his mother Sheree Hamik told the Deseret Morning News. "He has a lot of determination and willpower."
