Ekimov : Seriously injured

I just read it on Cyclingnews. He broke a vertebrae and his sternum. I wonder if this could spell the end of his career. It will certainly hurt Discovery for their TDF team. Sad to see things like this happen to such a classy guy. Hope they got the person in the car responsible for it.

davidbod said:

I just read it on Cyclingnews. He broke a vertebrae and his sternum. I wonder if this could spell the end of his career. It will certainly hurt Discovery for their TDF team. Sad to see things like this happen to such a classy guy. Hope they got the person in the car responsible for it.

Cyclingnews says he hit a pothole.

kennf said:

Cyclingnews says he hit a pothole.

Well, I hope they got that pothole!

Bummer, I like Eki. A class act.

Too bad, a man of intelligence and class. To read an interview with him is always inspiring. This will seriously hurt the Discovery TTT.

limerickman said:

Ekimov had a serious run in with a car.
Breastbone and ribs broken.
He'll be out for several months and will miss the Tour deFrance

http://www.cycling4all.com/

That's a shame, Ekimov is inspiring. What a worhorse! I remember going to watch a couple of stages of the Tour De Trump here in New York when II was about 10 or 11 years old back in 1988 or so, the year Ekimov won. I'm 27 now and he is still out there breaking legs, unbelieveable!

Here's hopin he makes a spedy recovery.

NW

Terrible shame, he's such a trooper, still winning medals when most guys have retired. Velo News makes it sound less serious, but still more than likely no Tour. That'll be a blow for Lance and Discovery

Discovery Channel's Viatcheslav Ekimov was struck by an automobile Thursday during a training ride with Lance Armstrong, and the Russian's Tour de France may be in jeopardy.

Armstrong escaped injury in the Austin mishap, but the 39-year-old Ekimov was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken sternum.

Ekimov hopes to be transported back home to St. Petersburg, Russia, for rehabilitation, according to his friend Dirk Baert.

Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, Baert said: "He must wear a corset for six weeks. By that time, we'll already be halfway through June. The chance that he will ride with Armstrong in the Tour is very small."

That is really unfortunate. You never want to see a rider sidelined because of an injury! 🙁

Here is the story.

Eki Hurt in Training Crash

Dripping Springs, TX - 4/30/05: The Discovery Channel pro cycling team's Viatcheslav Ekimov suffered a significant injury yesterday on a training ride with teammate and six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.

On their ride, Ekimov had stopped for a moment and was coming back to Armstrong when he hit a hole in the road. The impact caused Ekimov to lose control of his bike and hit his chest on the bike's handlebar stem then crashing hard on his back.

Armstrong was not involved in the crash nor injured, and contrary to other reports, the riders were not hit by a car or any other vehicle.

"Of course we were concerned when he went down," Armstrong said. "But Eki's a really tough guy and he thought he was OK, just banged up. But later on the pain wouldn't stop so we went to a hospital and got him checked out." Ekimov was admitted and soon released from a local Austin hospital. In his illustrious career, Ekimov has completed 14 Tours de France and is scheduled to be on the Discovery Channel team's 2005 Tour squad that will attempt to assist Armstrong to his seventh Tour title. Ekimov is just two Tour de France finishes away from the record of 16, set by Holland's Joop Zoetemelk in 1986.

I had also read the above article. From the reports, the guy finished his ride! What a BADASS!

snyper0311 said:

I had also read the above article. From the reports, the guy finished his ride! What a BADASS!

Eki is the guy who calms everyone on the team down, having dome what twenty of thirty TdFs or whatever so they lose big by his not being there--well I guess they could still have him on the bus.

But they really lose in the TTT since he is last I checked one of the top three or four time trialists in the world, and on a good day THE Best. This will really hurt Lance going for seven.

man cracking his sternum, thats a really painfull injury.

Note to Eki...just don't cough.

Maybe I'm lucky that I got his autograph and picture at the Tour de Georgia. He may never come back to race in the states again.