Lance Armstrong's comeback road took a crushing detour Monday when he crashed near the end of Stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León bike race.
Team Astana reports that Armstrong suffered a broken collarbone in the crash, which occurred about 12.5 miles from the finish in Baltanás, Spain. He went down in a pileup with other cyclists.
Video at a Spanish website shows Armstrong holding his arm as he enters an ambulance. The pileup happened on a narrow stretch with about a dozen cyclists.
The footage from the helicopter shows support crews checking on riders and replacing bikes on the road, then pans to a solitary figure wearing a yellow helmet sitting about 8 feet off the road with his back to the action.
Clean break
Astana team director Johan Bruyneel wrote on Twitter that it was a “clean collarbone fracture without complications. Should be fast recovery.”
The 37-year-old cyclist on his second Euro race of the season was taken to Valladolid University Hospital after originally going by ambulance to Rio Carrion hospital in Palencia.
Searching for information about collarbone breaks, I see where doctors say recovery time is anywhere from two weeks to six weeks.
Apparently cyclists can get back on a stationary bike real soon, but there can be quite a bit of pain when the cyclist gets back on the road.
Goals
Two big goals for Armstrong this season are the Giro d'Italia starting May 9 and the Tour de France, starting July 4. Leaving the hospital, Armstrong told reporters that riding in the Giro “will be very complicated.”
Armstrong is quoted:
“It has never happened before, I feel very disappointed. I feel miserable right now so I have to relax a few days.”
His luck in avoiding those crashes helped ensure that he was healthy for his previous seven wins at the Tour de France. It could explain why he didn't compete in a lot of those early season races.
(Update: March 24, 2009 — Bruyneel is quoted at VeloNews as saying Armstrong will definitely be able to race the Tour de France, but the Giro d'Italia depends on his recovery.)
Another famous break
One of the most famous collarbone breaks occurred to Tyler Hamilton early in the 2003 Tour de France. Riding for Team CSC at the time, Hamilton did not drop out and actually won Stage 16 in a solo breakaway.
The Vuelta a Castilla y León had drawn a lot of attention from cycling fans because it was to be the first time that teammates Armstrong and Alberto Contador competed in the same race. Although the two try to downplay it, there's competition between the two for leadership of the team.
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