Lance Armstrong Injured – Fractured Collarbone Leaves Tour de France Participation in Doubt

Tyler is out on vacation this week, actually doing some bike riding, so in his absence I will step outside of my NCAA Tournament/Chicago White Sox cocoon and post the biggest cycling news of the day:

Lance Armstrong fractured his collarbone today during a race in Spain, leaving his planned participation in this year’s Tour de France in doubt. According to Armstrong (as reported in the Lance Armstrong injury update by ESPN.com), “it’s a very big problem.”

From the ESPN.com report:

Armstrong was knocked off his bike during a pileup in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon race and was taken to a hospital by ambulance. The American, who crashed about 12.5 miles from the stage’s finish, was grimacing and trying to hold his right arm as he entered the ambulance.

“The collarbone is broken, and I have a little bit of road-rash abrasions,” Armstrong said as he left Valladolid University Hospital. “I’ve never had this happen before; it’s pretty painful. I feel really miserable.”

Astana team leader Johan Bruyneel said on his Twitter feed that there were no complications in the break, and suggested Armstrong could be back riding soon.

“Clean collarbone fracture,” Bruyneel said. “Should be fast recovery.”
Armstrong is scheduled to compete in the Giro d’Italia from May 9-May 31. The Tour runs July 4-26.

Armstrong’s participation in the Giro will now be “very complicated,” he told reporters.

So it seems as if the early prognosis is somewhat conflicted. Lance Armstrong says it’s a big problem concerning his Tour de France participation and that he feels “really miserable.” But the Astana team leader suggested Lance could be back soon and that he should have a fast recovery.

I have broken my collarbone twice (when I was much younger) and it was at least 6-8 weeks before I could really move it or do anything. Two months would put Lance at the end of May, which certainly does complicate his expected participation in the Giro d’Italia. I would assume that he would be back healthy by the beginning of the Tour de France, but obviously his preparation is going to be severely limited from what he is used to.

And you would have to think that Armstrong won’t want to put his 7 straight wins on the line if he is not at full strength. Certainly this will be a story to monitor for all of the cycling enthusiasts out there. I’m sure Tyler will check in with more when he gets back.

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