Professional Cycling - Ouch.

O'Grady injures his ribs and back again...

The Paris-Roubaix winner crashed on his right side and punctured one long, broke his collar bone, shoulder blade, five ribs and some bones in his spine, not his spine itself though.

from the press:

O'Grady was taken to hospital in Moutiers complaining of back injuries. The official race doctor said the cyclist was "complaining of a sore back but I don't think he has a fracture."

One might read that sentence as saying that the doctor didn't believe he had a spinal fracture...

Might be time for a 2nd opinion.

My heart sank when I saw him on the stretcher. He's a classy rider, hope he heals well.

It actually takes a whole hell of a lot of force to break a scapula (shoulder blade). That's one of those fractures that raises an eyebrow because it suggests a very high-energy mechanism of injury. Hope he's OK...

If all those injuries occured in that crash its amazing he continued to ride as far as he did.

One might read that sentence as saying that the doctor didn't believe he had a spinal fracture...

One might read that sentence as saying that the race doctor was...

incorrect.

Hey, that would give him something in common with approximately 75%+ of the many doctors I have consulted since 1999 for a couple of conditions. In all fairness it's pretty hard to diagnose a patient from the Tour de France car when you're looking at the guy on a bicycle, eh?

One might read that sentence as saying that the race doctor was...

incorrect.

Hey, that would give him something in common with approximately 75%+ of the many doctors I have consulted since 1999 for a couple of conditions. In all fairness it's pretty hard to diagnose a patient from the Tour de France car when you're looking at the guy on a bicycle, eh?

Yeah, it's like fitting a TT bike over the internet while applying no power to the pedals. :D

Yeah, it's like fitting a TT bike over the internet while applying no power to the pedals. :D

:D

Hey, your position improved, and if you're comfortable, that's all that matters.

One might read that sentence as saying that the race doctor was...

incorrect.

Hey, that would give him something in common with approximately 75%+ of the many doctors I have consulted since 1999 for a couple of conditions. In all fairness it's pretty hard to diagnose a patient from the Tour de France car when you're looking at the guy on a bicycle, eh?

True--he may have been just plain wrong. In fact, considering that he had a punctured lung and multiple rib fractures, O'Grady was lucky that he didn't have the worst-case scenario for that injury (tension pneumothorax). If the doc had missed that, ol' Stu would likely be dead now.

True--he may have been just plain wrong. In fact, considering that he had a punctured lung and multiple rib fractures, O'Grady was lucky that he didn't have the worst-case scenario for that injury (tension pneumothorax). If the doc had missed that, ol' Stu would likely be dead now.

Good point DP. Credit where it's due. The race doctor's key responsibility is to diagnose the most urgent injury. Broken bones - don't worry, they won't stay undiagnosed for long...

Is there any video of the crash or a ccounts of how it happened? Seems he would have have to hit something immovable pretty hard or gone over a cliff to get those kinds of injuries.

Yeah, it's like fitting a TT bike over the internet while applying no power to the pedals. :D

Nice :).