Road Bike Racing - Hincapie's injuries

Hincapie diagnosed with fracture

From Cyclingnews

George Hincapie, the man who probably suffered the worst fate of all in this 104th Paris-Roubaix - his steerer tube breaking when he had all the chances for a victory in the race - has been diagnosed with a fracture between his collarbone and shoulder blade. The Discovery rider will return to the United States on Monday to get an operation.

"We don't know yet how long Hincapie will be out of competition," team director Dirk Demol told Belgian media. "It is a severe injury, that's for sure." X-rays in hospital reveled a fracture of about three centimetres.

Dude is out. Sounds as if he's doubtful for the Tour. Popo will probably get the nod.

Get well soon Big George.

Michael

heartbreaking - just heartbreaking- makes me sick to think about that-

heartbreaking - just heartbreaking- makes me sick to think about that- Me too. Seems like a really nice guy and a great rider. Shame that just as he gets his big chance the cycling gods strike him down. Get well soon George!

Man that sucks, I was hoping he avoided really serious injury by getting off the cobbles.

From the footage it looked like he deliberately tried to steer himself left after he realized what was happening. Going down on the pave with a few riders behind probably would have been worse.

he could have died if he went head first on to the pavers. i am totally bummed for him. he had the best shot maybe of his career to win that race. he didnt, and now he may be out for the rest of the year??? sounds like a bad injury. later.

Am I missing something? Is it for sure that he'll be out of the Tour?

It depends upon how seriously he is hurt. At this point that is unclear. Collarbone/clavical injuries can be so minor that you can still ride a major tour a la Tyler Hamilton or they can put you out for 6 weeks. If it is the latter, with only 12 weeks to go before the tour, then that could be a major problem.

I question the support that Trek gave to George by equipping him with a bike with an aluminum steerer. Boonen was riding steel. Don't you think they would have custom made a special fork if it was Lance? Evidently Trek didn't have an in house fork available with a steel steerer.

Does not sound good for the tour. Really disappointing news. Reports at the time thought he was ok. Does this report mean the break is on the shoulder blade? I was counting on George to do Roubaix again. Even if he did get well before the tour. What about conditioning. gotta hurt.

This is not the way to lose in Paris-Roubaix. Fatigue, team tactics, flats...ok, but to have your steerer tube snap (regardless of that prior crash) just like that is inexcusable.

It seems a lot of the other teams were riding steel.

He looked like he had great form too. Crazy just crazy.

From what I read (forgot where) George will be off the bike for 15 days, missing the Tour de Georgia. After that they had planned to take a rest before the Dauphine Libere, then of course Le Tour...but now the planned rest is over. However, assuming surgery goes well, no reoccurence of injury, diminishing pain when riding, etc., there should be no reason he can't ride Le Tour...it's still almost three months away.

Mark

Let's all hope he gets back on his bike soon. He has worked hard to get into the ranks of the top five or ten stage racers in the world, at an age when many other cyclists have retired. Given his hard driving nature, I suspect he will be back on his bike the first day the doctors take off the handcuffs.

Getting ready for the Tour de France is always requires an awkward balance between working very hard, while avoiding peaking too soon by working too hard, too soon. If he is back on his bike in May, there is no reason he can't still ride a strong race in July.

Hincapie has faced dissapointment in the Roubaix for the last 3 or 4 years. Last year he got second in the sprint after working his ass off the whole race as well as crashing into a ditch. I think two years ago he ended up by himself with 3 or so members of another team, who needless to say man handled him. I think there was something before that too. Poor George, really is a nice guy. Lets just hope all of this dissapointment doesn't lead him down the same path as Jan and Pantani - who decided they liked recreational drugs better than bicycle racing.

Hincapie has faced dissapointment in the Roubaix for the last 3 or 4 years. Last year he got second in the sprint after working his ass off the whole race as well as crashing into a ditch. I think two years ago he ended up by himself with 3 or so members of another team, who needless to say man handled him. I think there was something before that too. Poor George, really is a nice guy. Lets just hope all of this dissapointment doesn't lead him down the same path as Jan and Pantani - who decided they liked recreational drugs better than bicycle racing.

If you look at everything else BUT P-R, George has been doing pretty well...

that's got to be the frustrating thing about P-R...you absolutely cannot have any bad luck. There's no real way to recover from it. It's also terribly unpredictable.

George using drugs over racing....NOPE!

S/F,
CEYA!

I don't know exactly what the fracture is like, but with a fracture of that area, and surgical repair, assuming no ligaments were involved, he will be off of the bike for 1-3 weeks. If just a fracture, it will be fully healed by 8 weeks, but likely much earlier. Can he keep his form? Probably.

If the fracture involved torn ligaments, the prognosis is not as good. I am thinking if it was the case and he tried to do the tour, he could be risking forshortening the career. Thi sis knowing little about his actual injuries, but number of you inquired, so I thought I would shed some light on the subject as one of the in house docs.

I don't know exactly what the fracture is like, but with a fracture of that area, and surgical repair, assuming no ligaments were involved, he will be off of the bike for 1-3 weeks. If just a fracture, it will be fully healed by 8 weeks, but likely much earlier. Can he keep his form? Probably.

If the fracture involved torn ligaments, the prognosis is not as good. I am thinking if it was the case and he tried to do the tour, he could be risking forshortening the career. Thi sis knowing little about his actual injuries, but number of you inquired, so I thought I would shed some light on the subject as one of the in house docs.

A question for the Doc...on the paceline.com website they show a picture of Hincapie at the airport on the way back to the US and he's mega-bandaged up. It really looked awful. If I hadn't read abotu what happened at P-R, I would have thought he broke more than he did just based on the pic. So what's up with all those bandages.


and how come the hand I broke last may is still not as flexible as the other hand even though it's been almost a year? :(

Latest from VeloNews is he'll be back for Dauphine...and so far as PR goes...well, he's surely earned a spot of good luck for next year. Too bad luck doesn't work that way.

I was watching PR on Sunday, luckily I Tivo'd it so I could do a replay...
For those who didn't see it, George was in a Group, the Camera was in front, then George suddenly appeared from the left of the Pack, his Handlebars and stem dangling from the Cables, he was unclipped, sitting upright trying to stay up I guess...looked like he was riding a Unicycle...
He went over and landed on a dirt hump, the contact looked as though it was just below his shoulder...it honestly didn't look THAT bad, but then it wasn't me...but some crashes actually LOOK bad if you know what I mean, and the rider jumps up and back on his bike...
I read an early report that said he'd seperated his shoulder, but obviously he's had X-Rays since then...

Bruyneel said later that he'd had an earlier crash that could have caused the damage (to his steerer tube)

My Wife and I are big Fans of his, and as you say, he seems such a nice Guy...we saw him at the Tour of California a couple of months ago...

It's a real shame, hopefully he'll still be in the Tour dF...first no Lance, then no Hincapie...maybe...what a shame....Get well soon Big G!!

Another demonstration of how DANGEROUS Euro Pro cycling is as a pro sport. Right up there with football. Except you don't get KILLED in football when things go really wrong. Oh well.

At least they're highly paid. Oh wait, I forgot, they generally aren't. Never mind. Well at least the STARS like George H. are highly paid. Compared to what you and I earn. Not compared to some mediocre football/baseball/soccer pros of course.

Another demonstration of how DANGEROUS Euro Pro cycling is as a pro sport. Right up there with football. Except you don't get KILLED in football when things go really wrong. Oh well.

At least they're highly paid. Oh wait, I forgot, they generally aren't. Never mind. Well at least the STARS like George H. are highly paid. Compared to what you and I earn. Not compared to some mediocre football/baseball/soccer pros of course.

of course, there have been a number of NFL players who've dropped dead after games or practices in the last couple years. I haven't heard of anyone going off mountains in pro cycling in a while.

Football players get killed or paralyzed while playing. A lot of times its at the high school or college level so it may not make national news. Last year a pro died during a game. It was in the arena league so he wasn't making tons of money either.

Can't really fault the equipment in this case because of the prior crash. Damaged the bike in a place you couldn't see it unless you pulled the bike apart. The only thing I think they could've done differently was to give him a different bike after the first crash just in case, but that's obviously a case of hindsight 20/20....

The discovery channel website just announced that Big George won't need surgery.

A question for the Doc...on the paceline.com website they show a picture of Hincapie at the airport on the way back to the US and he's mega-bandaged up. It really looked awful. If I hadn't read abotu what happened at P-R, I would have thought he broke more than he did just based on the pic. So what's up with all those bandages.


and how come the hand I broke last may is still not as flexible as the other hand even though it's been almost a year? :(

I cannot see the picture in question (I cannot seem to access paceline.com), but if the fracture was severe and there was a lot of separation (movement) of the bones, you can risk the jagged edge of the bone poking into the lung. That is a very bad situation, so my guess is that they did everything they could to completely immobilize the arm so that would not happen.

As to your broken hand, I have to ask you if you have ever sat in a cramped space on a plane, or bus, or even in a classroom where you cannot move around for hours at a time? You get pretty stiff pretty fast. Now imagine instead of hours, you do that for 6 weeks. Understand that bones mostly provide stability. Flexibility is provided by muscles, tendons, and most importantly ligaments. If any of these are damaged (not uncommon with a hand fracture) scar tissue forms that is much less flexible (if you have any major scars on your skin you can see how the skin is drawn in around it). It takes rehabilitation consisting of careful (and appropriate) stretches and exercises to bring that back.

I've been searching for a while now....does anybody have a video of this crash?

I've been searching for a while now....does anybody have a video of this crash?

Cypress, I had a hard time finding it too but went to OLN's site and found it there somewhere. I can't remember how I found it. If I get a chance later I'll try to find the link again - otherwise you might just hunt around on their site. I also have the file saved on my home computer and can email it to you if you can't find it.

watch part 2 of the PR on cycling.tv premium. it happens in the first couple of minutes.

If anybody wants to watch it mms://dayport.wmod.llnwd.net/fc/a258/e1/n3c/0040/180000200604092912_010400010632p2.wmv

There it is.

Brutal. Thanks Rave.

According to an article in the Greenville, SC newspaper, George will be back on the trainer in less than a week, and will skip Tour De Georgia. He may postpone his mountain training in Europe a week or so, but he's planning on making the start of the tour.

Paper quoted his brother as saying it was a separation, and surgery would not be required.

I cannot see the picture in question (I cannot seem to access paceline.com), but if the fracture was severe and there was a lot of separation (movement) of the bones, you can risk the jagged edge of the bone poking into the lung. That is a very bad situation, so my guess is that they did everything they could to completely immobilize the arm so that would not happen.

As to your broken hand, I have to ask you if you have ever sat in a cramped space on a plane, or bus, or even in a classroom where you cannot move around for hours at a time? You get pretty stiff pretty fast. Now imagine instead of hours, you do that for 6 weeks. Understand that bones mostly provide stability. Flexibility is provided by muscles, tendons, and most importantly ligaments. If any of these are damaged (not uncommon with a hand fracture) scar tissue forms that is much less flexible (if you have any major scars on your skin you can see how the skin is drawn in around it). It takes rehabilitation consisting of careful (and appropriate) stretches and exercises to bring that back.

What you said makes sense. when I got the cast off, my hand looked all withered and awful. I cried when I looked at it. anyway, I've tried to attach the picture of hincapie all bandaged up.

What you said makes sense. when I got the cast off, my hand looked all withered and awful. I cried when I looked at it. anyway, I've tried to attach the picture of hincapie all bandaged up.

That's all I get is a 1.99 mile NASCAR course with 10 turns. Check the picture again.

EDIT: Okay, I see it now! Thanks.

The discovery channel website just announced that Big George won't need surgery.
Confirmation on George's site:

NO SURGERY NEEDED FOR GEORGE AFTER CRASH AT ROUBAIX Eyes set on return for the Dauphine Libere and Tour de France
Discovery Channel Pro Cyling team rider George Hincapie met with doctors on Tuesday morning and it was determined that he will not need surgery following his crash at the 104th Paris-Roubaix. George retuned to the States on Monday evening and met with doctors Tuesday in Greenville, South Carolina. Doctors determined the crash resulted in a 3rd degree separation of his shoulder and bruised wrist. George's shoulder will be taped and placed in a sling until he can resume riding.
"I was happy to hear that I will not need surgery. I will be off the bike for about a week but look forward to resuming my training and be in form for the Dauphine Libere in early June and the Tour de France," stated George from his home in Greenville. Discovery Channel Sports Manager Johan Bruyneel added "George's crash was disappointing as he was the leader and in a good position with teammates Hoste and Gusev. He is a total professional and I expect him to be in form for his next objective, the Tour de France."


http://www.georgehincapie.com/news.php


GO GEORGE!

That is much better news than expected. Who knows maybe the time off the bike will actually result in stronger form in the long run. Gotta look on the positive side.

But it sounds like he'll have to skip the Tour de George, I mean the ... Tour de Georgia.

But it sounds like he'll have to skip the Tour de George, I mean the ... Tour de Georgia.
Yep, he is not on the start list for the TdG.

Look at it this way, maybe this is the build up of one of those huge "feel good" victories in the TdF!