Lance Armstrong injured

[OakLeaf]

I think the main issue is going to be whether he can tolerate the pain enough to keep his training on track, and I'm guessing that as a cancer survivor, he can.

Functionally, I've had vocational specialists testify many times that the collarbone isn't really important. Mainly, it's just really painful. Professional motorcycle racers ride with broken collarbones pretty often. I've seen a roadracer podium (I believe win his race, but I don't remember) with the surgical incision open and seeping blood.

Now, I know an endurance event is not the same thing as an hour-long motorcycle race - mainly because you can't keep the local anaesthetics coming. But the Tour itself is a long ways off. Professional athletes typically use bone growth stimulators and whatever else they've got these days. Professional athletes never, that I've seen, worry about what arthritis they might have when they get older!

The other thing is that (unlike motorcycle racing) upper-body strength is really secondary for a cyclist. Lance can keep his cardio capacity, leg strength and core strength without stressing the collarbone at all before it's ready. Bottom line, I think he'll be fine - at least I don't really see this injury setting him back very far. The main loss is just the competitive edge from being able to participate in the rest of Castilla & Leon, it seems to me.

I hadn't been following Lance very closely, though. Had he been planning on competing in another event before the Tour?