LA FERTE-SOUS-JOUARRE, France -- American cyclist Tyler Hamilton made a last-minute decision Monday to stay in the Tour de France despite a broken collarbone sustained in a crash with dozens of other riders.

Hamilton, seen as one of a handful of cyclists capable of unseating four-time winner Lance Armstrong as Tour champion, had worked hard to prepare and didn't want to drop out, according to Bjarne Riis, his manager at team CSC.

"He wants to give this a try. He's a warrior,'' Riis said. "We'll support him as long as we can. But I'm not sure how long he'll be able to continue because he is in a lot of pain.''

A day earlier, Hamilton said he would likely pull out. Hamilton broke his right collarbone in the crash 500 yards from the finish line during the first full stage of the Tour on Sunday. The collision involved about 35 riders, with Hamilton and four others injured.

Two riders, Marc Lotz of the Netherlands and American Levi Leipheimer, were forced out of the race by their injuries, Tour doctor Gerard Porte said.

Lotz sustained deep facial cuts and a fracture under his eye, and Leipheimer had a fractured pelvis, the doctor said. Both men rode for the Dutch team Rabobank.

The accident came as a deep disappointment for Hamilton, an up-and-coming cyclist who said he spent the entire year training for the Tour.

The 32-year-old Hamilton won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege on April 27 and Switzerland's Tour of Romandie in early May. He finished sixth in Saturday's opening prologue, one spot and one second ahead of Armstrong. He is from Marblehead, Massachussetts.