Crash and Burn

We are only two stages into the Tour de France yet there have all ready been more crashes than you could count on one hand. The crashes have been from dogs being off leashes (like yesterday's stage) or riders just getting anxious and making a slight wrong movement.

Whatever it may be, the athletes fall hard. There was a pile up at the finish during yesterday's stage and the riders got up and brushed the dirt off like it was nothing. One man even got up and was rooting for his man to win the stage.

Falling is bad and all, but it adds an edge of excitement for the spectators. Such as every fall I saw I was dreading the thought of a Team Radio Shack rider being in the tangle, and hoping for Contador to get mixed up in it.

In the end, these cyclists are tough athletes. So many have broken collarbones and still returned. However, there are many who weren't so fortunate and didn't return after their injury. When it comes down to it bike racing is a sport that many overlook the dangerous aspect of.

A Hard Fall and Crazy Off Road in the 2003 Tour de France; Stage 9