Accidents whilst training or racing are not inevitable but are nevertheless an ever present risk.
How do the professionals cope? With mixed results could be the answer.
Johnny Hoogerland - ribs and spine 2013
Cancellara - collarbone 2012
Schleck, Andy - pelvis 2012
Those are the headlines but away from the newspapers there is a lot of bruising and a lot of damage that nobody talks about which is obvious when you really think about how an unprotected body hitting a hard and unforgiving surface at speed.
Never understimate an injury. Depending on the severity of the accident you may have to wait weeks before you can get back on a bike.
Hoogerland had to wait a month, Cancellara a week and Schleck's post accident tribulations are well documented.
Getting on the bike with pain is a recipe for overcompensating and developing muscle imbalances or tendonitis. The drive to get back on the bike is hard wired in a cyclist. The thought of a full winter's training all for nothing can be a blight.
So if fitness evaporates, all is not lost.
As a general rule of thumb, one week off the bike requires 3 weeks consistent training to regain. Top end peak power is the victim. Those short punchy climbs turning legs into blocks of concrete. Holding on in the bunch for 100km is not the issue, it is those 2 minutes of surges that can happen in a blink of an eye that opens up the holes in fitness.
However, too much too soon equals overreaching and that can lead to chronic fatigue.
Hoogerland and Cancellara have got through their accident trauma to notch up subsequent wins. For Schleck, his rehab has been fraught but still with a place on a Pro Tour team he can still be confident that an athlete's ability to regain pre accident form is more the norm than not.
