After fracturing the world’s most famous right collarbone this week, Lance Armstrong said something pretty smart: “It could have been worse.â€
A broken leg or torn knee tendon could really have derailed the comeback of the seven-time Tour de France champion. But broken collarbones? Gallic shrug. They happen all the time in cycling, where speed and jostling riders often turn races into demolition derbies.
Just ask Stuart O’Grady, who has participated in 12 Tours. The Australian has only a hazy count of his collarbone fractures. “Six, seven times†is his best guess, the most recent being at last weekend’s Milan-San Remo race in Italy. For good measure, he fractured a rib and punctured a lung, too, but expects … Details