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George Hincapie
By spokesman | July 28, 2009
George Hincapie announced today that he had broken his collar bone in Tour De France in the crash during stage 17. At the time, he suspected that he had a break but he refused to get it x-rayed. If it was determined to be broken, he would have had to leave the race.
George completed the race despite significant pain at times. He finished the stage where he crashed and four other stages. One of those stages was an individual time trial. Another one was the final stage where final laps included long stretches of cobblestones which George said caused “a lot of pain”. On two of the last four stages (stages 19 and 21), George was part of the train that delivered Mark Cavendish to front where he won the stages. In both of those stages, George took over the lead of the peloton with a gap to the leaders and in both cases George closed the gap.
George has completed 14 Tours De France and has been an unsung hero and dependable teammate. He is the only rider to be on all seven teams with Lance Armstrong in Lance’s seven Tour victories. He was instrumental in helping Mark Cavendish to win his record six sprint finishes in this year’s Tour.
It is unfortunate that cycling in not more popular or better understood in the U.S. Instead of recognizing the achievement of great athletes like George Hincapie, the biggest topic in sports this week is whether Michael Vick should be allowed to return to the NFL. Just for the record, I really don’t care about Michael Vick, but his presence in the league will really upset PETA, so for that reason alone I hope he gets to play. (PETA was recently upset that President Obama killed a fly in the White House.)
A documentary on George was recently released entitled “A Ride With George Hicapie”. I have not seen it yet, but based on the trailer below, I ordered a copy of the DVD. I will post a review after I watch it. Here is a link to the trailer.
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Topics: Professional Racing |