As you’ve probably heard by now, Lance Armstrong broke his right collarbone during yesterday’s first stage of the Vuelta Castilla y Leon. The main field hit a particularly narrow section of windswept road, and when riders starting clamoring for wheels, calamity ensued.
Here’s the video:
Now, while I’m not a fan of the “All Lance, All the Time” method of cycling journalism, I do think the crash is interesting for a few reasons:
1. It’s been a while since a Lance crash has had such “catastrophic” results (I use that term loosely since riders break collarbones all the time and he’ll probably heal quite quickly). His handlebar episode on Luz Ardiden in the 2003 Tour does not count.
2. The roads he crashed on remind of the narrower tracks his colleagues will soon be facing up North.
3. The crash will most certainly keep him out of this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen, a race in which I was eager to see him participate.
Extra credit if you can help me determine what language the video is in (I just can’t place it).
If all goes well, I’ll soon post a Preview of tomorrow’s Dwars door Vlaanderen.
