Injured Leipheimer pulls out of Paris-Nice

Astana cyclist Levi Leipheimer races in the time trial of the Amgen Tour of California in Solvang, California in this file photo from February 20, 2009.

PARIS (Reuters) - American Levi Leipheimer has pulled out of next month's Paris-Nice stage race because of a lower back injury, his Astana team said on Saturday.

Leipheimer sustained an injury to his sacrum -- the large, triangular bone at the base of the spine between the two hip bones -- during the Tour of California, which he won last week.

"An MRI scan revealed an undisplaced fracture of the sacrum of Levi Leipheimer. It resulted from a crash in the third stage (of the Tour of California)," Astana said in a statement.

"This fracture didn't prevent him from winning the time trial and the overall classification in that Tour of California, although he suffered from a lot of pain. Because of his injury Leipheimer will not start in Paris-Nice."

The Paris-Nice race runs from March 8 to 15.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Sonia Oxley)