Geraint Thomas

[BumbleBeeDave]

He's continuing with the Tour . . . despite a broken pelvis.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/07/news/geraint-thomas-presses-on-at-tour-despite-broken-pelvis_292942

Holy. Crap.

I wish him luck. I don't think he will last, though. Hamilton continuted with a broken collarbone in '03, I think it was. Any other riders anybody can think of who kept going against all odds after injury in the Tour?

BBD

[Cat3roadracer]

Didn't Hamilton have a little "help"?

[branflakes]

Didn't Hamilton have a little "help"?
yeah, and i think he finished 4th with that 'help.' but still, a broken collarbone.

hoogerland's hit and run comes to mind recently. nothing was broken, but still!

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/tdf071311/s_t25_18780575.jpg

not where i'd care to see barbed wire...
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/tdf071311/s_t26_RTR2OPVS.jpg

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/tdf071311/s_t27_10031789.jpg

[FlashUNC]

Tough to mention hard men fighting through injury without mentioning the original Lion of Flanders, Fiorenzo Magni. Used the ol' inner tube trick to deal with his broken collarbone:

http://scottlivingston.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/fiorenzo-magni.jpg?w=372&h=500

[Riders120]

Not sure dope makes a broken collarbone hurt less over 2100 miles. The guy grinded his teeth away he was in so much pain.

[BumbleBeeDave]

Not sure dope makes a broken collarbone hurt less over 2100 miles. The guy grinded his teeth away he was in so much pain.

You beat me to it. Even if Hamilton was doping--and by now we all know he was. Stil I will never forget his pulling out that victory late in the race. Forget the stage but remember what he did.

BBD

[cfox]

Not to down play the agony of riding with a broken collarbone, but you don't pedal a race bike with your arms. Why would Sky let/make this kid continue with a broken pelvis? He won't be any help in the TTT now, so why go on? I still can't believe Tony Martin is still riding. OPQS has no gc rider, so who cares about the TTT (the only reason he is still riding)?

[regularguy412]

I recall Cadel Evans continuing with a broken elbow a few years ago. Can't think of anyone else , offhand.

Mike in AR:beer:

[carpediemracing]

It's a minor fracture, minor enough that apparently they had to check twice before they found it.

It also matters where the fracture sits. If it's stressed on every pedal stroke then it's beyond painful. I can't imagine him continuing if it's a muscle attachment point.

If it's a non stressed part then although it's painful it's not the same kind of pain.

As someone that double fractured my pelvis, in stressed areas (meaning when I tried to walk or something then muscles pulled on the fracture) there was no way I could do anything, stand, nothing that required me to flex some thigh muscles. I was in a wheelchair, and before the wheelchair it was 20 minutes to get 20 feet to the toilet, with the Missus's help, and I broke down when I got back in bed (at that point I didn't know I had a fractured anything).

(Incidentally I got to look at my x-ray. The doc pointed to the alleged fractures. I couldn't see them, even with him pointing them out.)

At about the same time a different rider fractured part of the wing of one side of his pelvis. It's not load bearing. With the fractured pelvis he actually ran across the course to get to me when I fractured my pelvis, and he'd fractured it very recently (hence he wasn't racing).

[goonster]

Not sure dope makes a broken collarbone hurt less over 2100 miles. The guy grinded his teeth away he was in so much pain.
Not to pick nits, but it was riding the Giro with a broken shoulder the year before that Tyler ground his teeth off . . .

[Riders120]

He finished second over all but needed 11 teeth recapped. A year later he further enriched his dentist by continuing to ride, and grind his teeth, after breaking his collar bone during the first stage of the Tour de France.


I guess it was both....

[MattTuck]

pro cyclists are a hard bunch... almost all other sports have some form of injury time out. granted, it isn't a contact sport but there are enough crashes that I'd be very cautious about doing more damage to an already damaged pelvis. that's a key element of the support structure of your body....

[regularguy412]

pro cyclists are a hard bunch... almost all other sports have some form of injury time out. granted, it isn't a contact sport but there are enough crashes that I'd be very cautious about doing more damage to an already damaged pelvis. that's a key element of the support structure of your body....

Amen to that ^^

Just the pictures of Johnny Hoogerland climbing back on his bike after being hit by a car and flying upside down into a barbed wire fence, should leave no one in doubt of the toughness of cyclists.

Or the day Jens Voigt crashed three times on the same stage and still finished.

We can cite numerous examples-- the point being: this type of commitment is routine in cycling.

Mike in AR:beer:

[branflakes]

certainly cyclists are not want to be called soft.

nobody has really said much about it beyond the surface reporting, but the fact that tony martin is still on a bike at tdf is concerning. martin was involved in the big crash on day one (http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/eurosport/?title=Greipel,+Cavendish,+Sagan+Stage+1+Crash&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=tour-france-opener-marred-huge-152312575&yr=2013), as he was clipped by griepel trying to make room where there was none, and impacted his head on the ground not once, but twice. it is reported he lost consciousness twice, and was then transported to hospital (http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube3/?title=Tony+Martin+taken+to+hospital+on+first+stag e&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=25G3GTDj41o&yr=2013) after completing the stage.

martin is still in the race, but definitely looked somewhat dazed yesterday. according to my very rudimentary research, martin most likely suffered what is considered a grade III concussion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concussion_grading_systems). it's troubling to consider martin may still be suffering effects from his fall and not even really know it. i haven't read anything, or seen an interview with him (correction, opqs has an interview (http://youtu.be/iEBjnSvM1hI) posted) or his team discussing the extent of the injury, and what they are doing to continuously monitor his health.

it would be horrible to see martin crash again due to diminished reflex/reaction on subsequent stages. worse yet, it would be tragically horrific to see him, or anyone for that matter, simply collapse on the bike and fall into arrest mid-race.

i'm not saying he IS injured to this extent, i'm only suggesting it would be nice to know to what extent they are perhaps protecting him from himself.

[MattTuck]

branflakes, I think you're definitely on to something. Reminds me of the stage that Chris Horner crashed, and then was on video after the stage asking if he had finished the stage.

There is such a huge penalty for losing a rider from a team, especially a rider like Martin. Teams are really reluctant to have a rider drop out unless he is truly unable to ride.


As for Hoogerland, I was so happy for him when I read he won the Dutch National Championships a couple weeks ago.

[OtayBW]

Broken pelvis, you say? Holy crap!

I have second thoughts about riding when there's a heavy cloud cover coming in....:eek:

[pbarry]

In the 1983, Pascal Simon, wearing the Yellow Jersey, rode for 6 days with a broken shoulder blade: (From Bicycling.com)

Moment 26: 1983 - Pascal Simon Drops Out In Yellow

The Tour de France is nothing without fate and heroics. In 1983, Frenchman Pascal Simon demonstrated both. Riding on the strong Peugeot team, Simon grabbed the yellow jersey in the Pyrenees and with it more than a four and a half minute lead. But when he fell on the stage to Fleurance just after the Pyrenees, fracturing his shoulder blade, his chances of winning the Tour were shattered. With the yellow jersey on his back, however, he refused to drop out, trudging on against all odds. For the next five days the race appeared more like a funeral procession as challengers refused to attack the wounded yellow jersey, and Simon struggled simply to follow. Finally on the climb to the Chapelle Blanche in the Alpes, Simon unclipped and dropped out. But not before winning the hearts of his fans.

[FlashUNC]

branflakes, I think you're definitely on to something. Reminds me of the stage that Chris Horner crashed, and then was on video after the stage asking if he had finished the stage.

There is such a huge penalty for losing a rider from a team, especially a rider like Martin. Teams are really reluctant to have a rider drop out unless he is truly unable to ride.


As for Hoogerland, I was so happy for him when I read he won the Dutch National Championships a couple weeks ago.

That's what blew my mind hearing about Martin. How in God's name is he still riding with what sounded like a serious concussion?

[cfox]

That's what blew my mind hearing about Martin. How in God's name is he still riding with what sounded like a serious concussion?

OPQS is the reigning TTT world champ team, with the reigning world TT champ as part of that team. If there weren't a TTT this year, he'd be in the hospital still. Crazy he's still riding.

[FlashUNC]

OPQS is the reigning TTT world champ team, with the reigning world TT champ as part of that team. If there weren't a TTT this year, he'd be in the hospital still. Crazy he's still riding.

Except hard efforts like, say, a TT, could kill him. Literally.

[pdmtong]

If OPQS is going to push it, then Tony abandons after the TTT. This is idiocy racing with a concussion if so.

As for Thomas...all he needs to do is look at Andy Schleck to see the future when one has a fractured pelvis. .

[cfox]

Except hard efforts like, say, a TT, could kill him. Literally.

agree, totally irresponsible for him to be riding still.

[MattTuck]

I'm not sure what the solution could be for situations like this. Do it like they do with jurors? Have a substitute rider that travels with the team as a back up and can be substituted in for an injured rider?

That's just a horrible solution in my mind, as it cheapens the endeavor of riding every mile of the tour, and how would you handle GC or points or anything?

I guess another possibility might be something like an injury time out where a rider could avoid riding part of a stage (ie. going to hospital) if they gave up their GC/points/mountain jersey chances, so they could atleast come back and help out their team....

[FlashUNC]

I'm not sure what the solution could be for situations like this. Do it like they do with jurors? Have a substitute rider that travels with the team as a back up and can be substituted in for an injured rider?

That's just a horrible solution in my mind, as it cheapens the endeavor of riding every mile of the tour, and how would you handle GC or points or anything?

I guess another possibility might be something like an injury time out where a rider could avoid riding part of a stage (ie. going to hospital) if they gave up their GC/points/mountain jersey chances, so they could atleast come back and help out their team....

The answer's got to be the same as it is now -- he's out of the Tour and his team is down a man.

It sucks and it's terrible luck, but from what I've seen, he's not going to be much help in the TTT anyways.

[branflakes]

If OPQS is going to push it, then Tony abandons after the TTT. This is idiocy racing with a concussion if so.

As for Thomas...all he needs to do is look at Andy Schleck to see the future when one has a fractured pelvis. .
if TM abandons after TTT then we all know why he stayed. should that transpire, a proper journalist would be all over the story and expose the truth for what it is.

this partially relates to the thread i began entitled 'more lance fodder.' i'm not specifically trying to plug my own posts, but i am trying to draw attention to the 'possibility' that the riders need to join together and start looking out for one another. it's apparent that neither organizers, nor their own teams at times, are looking out for anyone's interest beyond their own.

riders deserve more respect than merely being disposable implements of the machine that is cycling. just as a hypothetical, what future does TM hold if by chance he became competitively disabled by the injuries sustained? for most of these riders if they can't ride they have no pension, no insurance, no disability, etc. the events would go on without them, with the organizers and infrastructure (UCI specifically) continuing to take the profits to the bank.

i hope i am being cynical and opqs is heeding more caution than i am suggesting.

[branflakes]

also, this hot on the heels of literally having a discussion with my 7yo last night as to my hesitation with his desire to play football at this age due to the prevalence of concussions throughout the sport. he also has a tremendous passion for cycling, but i will have a hard time explaining away any TM fallout.

and fwiw, why would opqs even push TM for the TTT? they aren't there for GC anyway. they want green and their chances of TTT victory are slim to none. at 100% TM would definitely improve on an otherwise inferior result, but reality is just that.

[pdmtong]

also, this hot on the heels of literally having a discussion with my 7yo last night as to my hesitation with his desire to play football at this age due to the prevalence of concussions throughout the sport. he also has a tremendous passion for cycling, but i will have a hard time explaining away any TM fallout.

and fwiw, why would opqs even push TM for the TTT? they aren't there for GC anyway. they want green and their chances of TTT victory are slim to none. at 100% TM would definitely improve on an otherwise inferior result, but reality is just that.


agreed...it would just further expose the sad spectacle side of the "sport"

[cfox]

also, this hot on the heels of literally having a discussion with my 7yo last night as to my hesitation with his desire to play football at this age due to the prevalence of concussions throughout the sport. he also has a tremendous passion for cycling, but i will have a hard time explaining away any TM fallout.

and fwiw, why would opqs even push TM for the TTT? they aren't there for GC anyway. they want green and their chances of TTT victory are slim to none. at 100% TM would definitely improve on an otherwise inferior result, but reality is just that.

?? OPQS was favored to win prior to TM's injury and will likely be top four even with him hurt. Chavenel is a 5 time French TT champ, TM is best in class, Cav is a terrific short distance TT'er. The route is 25k and pan flat.

[branflakes]

?? OPQS was favored to win prior to TM's injury and will likely be top four even with him hurt. Chavenel is a 5 time French TT champ, TM is best in class, Cav is a terrific short distance TT'er. The route is 25k and pan flat.
i do stand corrected. opqs was a favorite for this ttt. i was having flashbacks of the giro ttt when they were middle of the pack. no chavanel, no martin.

sky would have been tough sans injury, and now it appears orica may have a run in them.

[cfox]

i do stand corrected. opqs was a favorite for this ttt. i was having flashbacks of the giro ttt when they were middle of the pack. no chavanel, no martin.

sky would have been tough sans injury, and now it appears orica may have a run in them.

agree on orica, they are flying high after today