zippyjuan
03-23-2009, 05:00 PM
One of the reasons he has avoided one of cycling's most common injuries is that he tries to stay at the front of the pack to keep out of pileups but today he got caught in the pack as the roads narrowed and the speed was picking up as the opening day of a stage race in Spain neared the finish line- about 12 miles out actually. I broke my own collarbone riding alone in what was then Yugoslavia but my injury was not as bad- mine was just a crack while Armstrong's must have been a complete break. Since that bone moves around alot it can be painful. He will have surgery and probably have it pinned together until it heals. Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/7959765.stm
Last week he rode in one of the Spring Classics of cycling (a series of long, hard one day races), the Milan San Remo in Italy. This is the longest single day race in the sport at 185 miles long. He ran out of steam on the final climb and dropped back- finishing in 125th place. This was considered more of a training ride so he was not concerned about his placing only about riding hard. He was looking foreward to riding in the Giro d'Italia which is their equivalent of the Tour de France in May since he has never done that race before but now that may be in doubt. Will his teammate Alberto Contador ride the Giro after saying earlier that he would skip it and the Vuelta (Spain's national tour) to focus on the Tour de France? Or will Astana go on without either of them? They still have Levi Leipheimer, José Luis Rubiera, and Andres Kloden. The race this week in Spain was going to be the only time before the Tour that Armstrong and Contodor were going to race together. Contador has already won the Giro.
Last week he rode in one of the Spring Classics of cycling (a series of long, hard one day races), the Milan San Remo in Italy. This is the longest single day race in the sport at 185 miles long. He ran out of steam on the final climb and dropped back- finishing in 125th place. This was considered more of a training ride so he was not concerned about his placing only about riding hard. He was looking foreward to riding in the Giro d'Italia which is their equivalent of the Tour de France in May since he has never done that race before but now that may be in doubt. Will his teammate Alberto Contador ride the Giro after saying earlier that he would skip it and the Vuelta (Spain's national tour) to focus on the Tour de France? Or will Astana go on without either of them? They still have Levi Leipheimer, José Luis Rubiera, and Andres Kloden. The race this week in Spain was going to be the only time before the Tour that Armstrong and Contodor were going to race together. Contador has already won the Giro.