Jersey and blood, that is. If you saw the end of today's stage of the Tour you were witness to a horrific sight: The yellow jersey Thor Hushovd lying on the ground, bleeding profusely from an injury to his right arm. The gf couldn't look.
Speculation is he was hit by a green foam finger (at 5:36) and was cut. What could be seen was, as he sprinted in, he suddenly looked to his right, possibly at his arm, and (you had to be watching really carefully for this) that as the camera followed the stage winner (Jimmy Caspar) the right arm of the yellow jersey was in frame briefly and he was already bleeding. Also, from the overhead view, you could see Hushoved was right up against the barriers and also that spectators were leaning over the barriers. Finally, it is also certain Hushovd was struck by a foam finger as he was sprinting for the line.
As I said, most speculation is the foam finger caused the injury. Me...I'm not so certain.
First of all, let's get the silly conspiracy theories out of the way: Yes, someone could have had a knife or razor blade and intentionally attacked a rider (either the yellow jersey or someone else and he just missed). Fortunately, that should be pretty easy to disprove: A weapon should leave a very clean cut and the medical examination should shed some light on the nature of the injury. I doubt very seriously that's what happened but it is certainly within the realm of possibility.
Speculation currently centers on the green foam finger, probably because replays showed Hushoved almost certainly struck one in the sprint. I, personally, find that hard to believe as I don't see how thick, soft foam could cut human flesh, even at 40+ km/hour (~25 miles/hour). Yeah, that too is within the realm of possibility but it seems, to me, even less likely than an intentional attack with a sharp object.
Overhead replays showed Hushovd was right up against the barriers as he began his sprint. If I'm not mistaken, the barriers are metal and are also covered with advertising banners. Something has to be holding those banners in place, and I'm more inclined to think it was one of those.
Working the AIDS Rides many, many years ago, metal barriers had vinyl banners on them. The banners were held in place with heavy plastic zip ties, and, quite frankly, the ties were not trimmed flush. Up to an inch of heavy, rather sharp, plastic was sticking out where they held the banners to the barriers.
I'm more inclined to think it was something like that that cut Hushovd's arm. The plastic on some zip ties is certainly tough enough and if it's cut short but sticking out, I think it could easily cut someone moving by at greater than 20 mph. The only way to determine this is to carefully examine all of the banners on that side of the finishing straight carefully...but, sadly, it's been about an hour since the stage finished and I strongly suspect the barriers and banners are already being taken down for a future stage.
Here's hoping Hushovd makes the start tomorrow.
UPDATE: According to Velo News, the green hand was not made of foam, it was plastic, and stiff plastic is certainly more likely to cause a gash than foam. As a result, Tour officials have banned those signs in the final two kilometers of a stage.
On another note, American George Hincapie of Discovery, has taken the yellow jersey, becoming only the fourth American to ever wear yellow in the Tour de France.
Posted by Victor at July 2, 2006 11:34 AM | TrackBackI tend to agree with you. Our rabbit cage is made out of wire grids held together with wire ties and even though I was careful to trim as close as possible, I've gotten a couple of nasty scratches as I walk by.
Hitting one of those at 20mph would definitely open you up some.
Posted by: Ted at July 2, 2006 08:02 PM