Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/8/10

Today, Mark Cavendish finally got the stage victory that had been eluding him, but what was more interesting was American Tyler Farrar contesting for the final sprint with his usual lead-out train, despite an elbow injury and a possible hairline fracture in the wrist of the same arm, only two days after the massive crashing on the slippery slope of the Col du Stockeu. Anyone with a broken or sprained wrist knows how difficult it is to hold oneself up in a push-up position, which is what a sprinter needs to do to get up off the seat and violently push down on the pedals for the final effort. However, once the adrenaline starts pumping, the pain disappears, and it can be surprising the feats one can do. In fact, it was Robbie McEwen, in the first stage of the 2007 Tour de France, after crashing 12 miles from the finish, and injuring his wrist badly, was able to win the field sprint in London. According to Robbie, he couldn't even shake hands after the race because the wrist was so painful, even thinking it was broken, before x-rays proved negative.