Lance Armstrong In Surgery

Lance Armstrong on his way into surgery this morning. Hopefully the doctor won't be finding any surprises. Forza Lance!

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Lance Armstrong Plans To Do Giro d'Italia

Lance Armstrong back home in Austin, Texas, speaking of the Giro d'Italia, "Even if I went into the Giro [d'Italia] under prepared and using it as preparation for other events, I'd still do it and be excited about doing it."

Photo: back in Austin, Texas and smiling

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44th Tirreno-Adriatico Images

The 44th Tirreno-Adriatico was won by Michele Scarponi (who is from the Le Marche region) of the Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli team.

Photos: sea-to-sea race (not quite sea-to-sea), four race photos, the winner Michele Scarponi

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Cino Cinelli, 1939

Cino Cinelli is the third from the left in the front row in this picture. At the time he was riding for FREJUS.

See this blog entry for more on Cino Cinelli:http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2008/09/cinelli.html

Photo: courtesy of David Beck

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Armstrong: "More About the Giro in a Week"

Lance Armstrong spent the night in Madrid in Johan Bruyneel's home before taking a flight from Madrid to the U.S. Before arriving in Madrid, Armstrong answered some questions at the hospital:

How did the crash happen?“At the end of the race, people started to get a bit excited to win the race. Everybody wanted to be in the front and couple of guys crashed in front of me, crossed the wheels and I hit them over the top. It happens quick when it happens. It could have been worse, I suppose. I have road rash abrasions on right hip and arm but the big problem is the broken collarbone. I never had this before. It is pretty painful. Now we must have to see how it heals. I will go back to the US and there we will decide on surgery.”

You must be very disappointed. Is the Giro participation in jeopardy?“I am very disappointed. Very. Especially for the Giro. Now the biggest problem is the pain. It hurts. We will see. The guys in the hospital in Valladolid were great and very nice and helpful. But now I feel miserable. I need to relax a couple of days, fix the problem and make a plan. I hope I can tell you more about the Giro in a week.”

You almost never crash.“I was thinking the same thing in the hospital that this never happened in my 17 years of pro cycling. That’s cycling. It’s nobody’s fault. Crashes happen all the time. It is part of the job.”

A Twitter update from Johan Bruyneel, the manager of Astana (who was not at the race), said: "Clean collarbone fracture without complications. Should be fast recovery ..."

Photo: from http://www.livestrong.com/

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Lance Crashes in Spain, Giro Participation in Jeopardy

March 23: Lance Armstrong crashed on Stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León (Spain). He was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Valladolid where he was diagnosed with a fracture of the right collarbone and other less serious injuries.

It appears certain that he will miss his planned entry in the Giro del Trentino (April 22 to 25) and the Italian press is reporting that Armstrong said of his entry in the Giro d'Italia, "Difficile correre il Giro" (Difficult to race the Giro). Armstrong is now headed back to the U.S. to see his doctors.

Photos and video: Armstrong on the ground, leaving the hospital, RTVE television captured the immediate aftermath of the crash.

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Granfondo Racing Can Be Dangerous

The Gran Fondo “Paolo Bettini-La Geotermia”, one of the granfondo races in the "Granducato di Toscana" series, was immediately suspended on Sunday after the fatal injury to a rider involved in an accident.

Granfondo racing can be dangerous. I've seen people take enormous risks. In the Maratona dles Dolomites there were riders flying down the mountainsides at incredible speeds as I hoped they were riding within their skills. Some were not. At the Granfondo Italia the speeds on the flats were very high and with a gruppo compacto there were several, serious, accidents. It was this granfondo that always stressed me out the most, being 100++% alert for an entire race was extremely stressful. Then, there are the crazy things that can happen: at the Granfondo Avesani my friend was hit by an ambulance that was responding to a rider that had crashed.

Granfondos are a lot of fun, staying over to the right can keep you out of a lot of grief. Keep in mind also that not everyone is racing full throttle so you can enjoy the spirit of a granfondo in company without taking risks. Be careful out there.

Photo: a race crash somewhere in Italy

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