Collarbone injuries?

[Rocksteady]

Terrible news that VDV probably broke a collarbone today. Can anyone tell me how this will effect his TDF? I know last year was much worse but he seemed to be back for the TDF with decent form. Can he still do well in July? What is recoverytime for a broken collarbone?


I still have Farrar to cheer for in the Giro.

 

[tgsgirl]

Terrible news that VDV probably broke a collarbone today. Can anyone tell me how this will effect his TDF? I know last year was much worse but he seemed to be back for the TDF with decent form. Can he still do well in July? What is recoverytime for a broken collarbone?
I still have Farrar to cheer for in the Giro.

Recovery time depends mostly on if it's a clean break (snapped in half) or a complicated break. If it's the former he should be back out training by the end of the Giro I think, if it's the latter it'll take a while longer. He can still do well in July, but any training weeks lost at this point in the season isn't a good thing, obviously.

 

[Race Radio]

10 days on the trainer then back to the road.

 

[erader]

Terrible news that VDV probably broke a collarbone today. Can anyone tell me how this will effect his TDF? I know last year was much worse but he seemed to be back for the TDF with decent form. Can he still do well in July? What is recoverytime for a broken collarbone?


I still have Farrar to cheer for in the Giro.

it'll give him yet another excuse (as if he needs one) .

ed rader

 

[fatandfast]

Terrible news that VDV probably broke a collarbone today. Can anyone tell me how this will effect his TDF? I know last year was much worse but he seemed to be back for the TDF with decent form. Can he still do well in July? What is recoverytime for a broken collarbone?


I still have Farrar to cheer for in the Giro.

VDV will have to put his upper body training and condition in low gear. The collar bone is a human flaw. A silly bone that doesn't do much and sends shooting pain through your whole body.Takes only a few pounds of pressure to snap it.The past few years pins and screws are a little easier for your insurances to pay for..before that you got some meds and an 8 brace and had to wait 4-6 weeks for full function. Even w screws full fuse is at 5-6 weeks regularly.He will be riding a trainer for a while.He knows what he is doing so it shouldn't be the death nail in an old mans coffin 33 is pretty old.

 

[ChrisE]

A more important question is now that Yardstick is out, how will we know if this year's Giro is clean or not?

Can we deduce anything about whether the others we clean from the few amount of stages he rode?

 

[Jamsque]

VDV will have to put his upper body training and condition in low gear. The collar bone is a human flaw. A silly bone that doesn't do much and sends shooting pain through your whole body.Takes only a few pounds of pressure to snap it.The past few years pins and screws are a little easier for your insurances to pay for..before that you got some meds and an 8 brace and had to wait 4-6 weeks for full function. Even w screws full fuse is at 5-6 weeks regularly.He will be riding a trainer for a while.He knows what he is doing so it shouldn't be the death nail in an old mans coffin 33 is pretty old.

I feel compelled to step in in defence of the noble collarbone here. It is actually a very clever piece of evolutionary protection. The collarbone is supposed to break easily, because it's a crumple zone to absorb impacts to your upper body and protect much more important things like your lungs and your brain.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

A more important question is now that Yardstick is out, how will we know if this year's Giro is clean or not?

Can we deduce anything about whether the others we clean from the few amount of stages he rode?

Use a more realistic yardstick - David Moncoutié. Time him up the climbs.

 

[Oldman]

10 days on the trainer then back to the road.

Totally. No lost time unless the discomfort won't allow him to put his hands on the bars, then maybe a few slow days.

 

[Rocksteady]

Totally. No lost time unless the discomfort won't allow him to put his hands on the bars, then maybe a few slow days.

Thats good to hear. Thanks for the info.

 

[53x11 in DC]

it'll give him yet another excuse (as if he needs one) .

ed rader

??? Douchebaggiest comment of the day.

 

[Rockets160]

i can only assume some of you have actually broken a collarbone. I broke mine last summer racing motocross and I can assure those of you that have yet to break yours...it is one of the worst bones to break for those few weeks. not just because of the pain-it hurts like hell- the problem is you can't sleep, eat, dress, wipe your ****, etc...without going through torturous pain. I slept sitting up in a chair for 3 weeks because i couldn't sit up. Couldn't lift my arm up enough to dress(thank god for my wife!) Couldn't eat....you get the point. i most certainly didn't want to ride my bike during that time period. I will say however, that i did not have plates or screws inserted and I've heard its waaaay easier when they are but i hope not to find out.

 

[Hugh Januss]

i can only assume some of you have actually broken a collarbone. I broke mine last summer racing motocross and I can assure those of you that have yet to break yours...it is one of the worst bones to break for those few weeks. not just because of the pain-it hurts like hell- the problem is you can't sleep, eat, dress, wipe your ****, etc...without going through torturous pain. I slept sitting up in a chair for 3 weeks because i couldn't sit up. Couldn't lift my arm up enough to dress(thank god for my wife!) Couldn't eat....you get the point. i most certainly didn't want to ride my bike during that time period. I will say however, that i did not have plates or screws inserted and I've heard its waaaay easier when they are but i hope not to find out.

I've never broken a collarbone but I have broken ribs. Non scientific, but I would go with them as being the worst. I dated a girl once who had broken both her elbows a year before we met, she said you really find out who your true friends are when you do that.

 

[Martin318is]

There have been a number of cases of very fast recoveries with broken collarbones (using screws and plates etc).

Allex Zulle was racing the opening stage of the Tour less than 10 days after snapping his. Didn't Cadel Evans have a fast comeback after plating his break( one of them anyway - how many has he done now? Three?)

Its a LOT easier if its bolted than if its just strapped - still doesn't make it pain free though!

 

[Cerberus]

i can only assume some of you have actually broken a collarbone. I broke mine last summer racing motocross and I can assure those of you that have yet to break yours...it is one of the worst bones to break for those few weeks. not just because of the pain-it hurts like hell- the problem is you can't sleep, eat, dress, wipe your ****, etc...without going through torturous pain. I slept sitting up in a chair for 3 weeks because i couldn't sit up. Couldn't lift my arm up enough to dress(thank god for my wife!) Couldn't eat....you get the point. i most certainly didn't want to ride my bike during that time period. I will say however, that i did not have plates or screws inserted and I've heard its waaaay easier when they are but i hope not to find out.

Sounds pretty bad, but a broken collarbone doesn't have to hurt that much. I broke mine on a school trip and after I had complained a bit my teachers told me to get back on the bike, which I did and rode home without major problems. When I found out that I had broken my collarbone a day later I was told a had to avoid strenuous activity which I found incredibly annoying because it didn't actually hurt much, particularly not after a week. It was awkward, but not painful. I don't know whether your experience or mine is the more typical, but apparently there is a huge difference in how bad these things are. I had no screws inserted, but my collarbone wasn't completely snapped, that might be the reason, though it was more than a crack.

 

[valentius borealis]

Didn't Cadel Evans have a fast comeback after plating his break( one of them anyway - how many has he done now? Three?)

He broke his collarbone for the seventh time on the descent of the Col d'Aubisque while training for the 2005 Tour de France.

 

[Spare Tyre]

i can only assume some of you have actually broken a collarbone. I broke mine last summer racing motocross and I can assure those of you that have yet to break yours...it is one of the worst bones to break for those few weeks. not just because of the pain-it hurts like hell- the problem is you can't sleep, eat, dress, wipe your ****, etc...without going through torturous pain. I slept sitting up in a chair for 3 weeks because i couldn't sit up. Couldn't lift my arm up enough to dress(thank god for my wife!) Couldn't eat....you get the point. i most certainly didn't want to ride my bike during that time period. I will say however, that i did not have plates or screws inserted and I've heard its waaaay easier when they are but i hope not to find out.

I dislocated my collar bone, and the pain was as you describe. It took months for things to be relatively normal, and I experienced disrupted sleep for about 18 months. (I managed dressing, bathing etc just fine with my other arm, though.)

I can only assume elite athletes have some other kind of experience thanks to all the medical expertise they can summon and their team's desire to get them back to their sport ASAP.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I've never broken a collarbone but I have broken ribs. Non scientific, but I would go with them as being the worst. I dated a girl once who had broken both her elbows a year before we met, she said you really find out who your true friends are when you do that.

I really agree with that. I broke my collarbone a few years ago in a mountain bike accident. Never felt a pain like that before. I couldn't do anything for the first week then was slowly able to do small things: carry a couple books, open a door, etc. When you're that helpless, you learn rather quickly who your true friends are. It actually solidified several friendships. You also learn what professors have a genuine concern for their students....

About VDV, last year he recovered rather fast from a much more serious injury and finished quite well at the Tour. This year will be no different. He'll be back on the trainer in a few days, and riding roads in less than two weeks. He's still a top ten finisher. I don't think any of us expected him to podium in July.

 

[Rocksteady]

He's still a top ten finisher. I don't think any of us expected him to podium in July.

We can still dream right? In reality, I think he is in that group that could end up anywhere between 5th-15th depending on being in the right break at the right time. Top 5 would be awesome but would need some luck he seems to be short on.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

We can still dream right? In reality, I think he is in that group that could end up anywhere between 5th-15th depending on being in the right break at the right time. Top 5 would be awesome but would need some luck he seems to be short on.

I agree. There is a stacked field this year, so he could just as easily fall out of top ten. I hope not, but it is possible. Either way, I'll have to wait at least another year to realize my Nationalistic hope of Americans sweeping a GT podium.