Originally Posted by
theril
Here is my question. What type of injury, or combination of injuries, would be enough to make a doctor reach that type of conclusion? The rider should still be able to recover (over time, with rehab, etc.)… My original thought was some form of back injury, where part of the spine would need to be fused … does this seem feasible, or are there any other suggestions?
A lot would depend on where you want to go with it and also how knowledgeable your readers are. And for that matter just what competition.
Knee or hip injury is appealing. There you have something that would NOT prevent a race or two, but training and anything looking like a racing career could be over.
Head/neck I don't like. While the risk of crash is higher racing it is far from non-existant in recreational riding. So it would impact the safety of any riding.
Back injury touches on history. It is entirely possible tha the best cyclist in history retired because of a nagging back issue. BUT between that injury and retirement were 9 Grand Tour wins (TDF, Giro and Vuelta) and 6 (out of a total of 7) Pernoid Super Prestige Trophy wins.
Of course if you want an eventual comeback then perhaps back is perfect, including a bit of inspiration from history.