Should their be an official medical decision made....

OffTheBackAdam

....to allow riders who've crashed to continue?
Boonen
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boonen- ... ead-injury
Horner
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/horner- ... n-saturday
Intxausti
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de ... new-shorts

Boonen had headaches & vomiting, at the very least his DS should have withdrawn him, on grounds of Boonen's own health, let alone other riders' safety.
Horner didn't know why he'd finished so far down, no memory of his crash.
Inxausti has a cracked bone.
With both Boonen & Horner, I'd strongly argue that they shouldn't have been allowed to finish the stage, let alone start the next day.
OK, Procyclists aren't footballers, who act like they've received a major injury, should another teams' player breathe on them, but the finish at all costs attitude is very concerning.
If someone who's suffered a head injury, takes another fall, there's the potential for another Soler, without the need to strike an imobile object.

timoid.

I think you've answered your own question.

There is no way in hell that Boonen should have been allowed back on a bike, let alone start the following day. Ditto Horner. Head injuries cannot be treated lightly. After all that's why the UCI introduced the facade of having a mandatory piece of polystyrene on your head.

inkyfingers

In an ideal world a neutral race doctor(s) with responsibility purely for the riders health would make these decisions but i'm just not sure how practical that is given that crashes occur all the time and most of the time the rider is fine to continue. They couldn't possibly assess every rider that had crashed in the time available without ruining the chances of the riders who were fine to continue and contest the race. The teams would argue that their own doctors should make the decisions but history tells us that team managers and doctors do not always put their riders health first.

ddraver

The Race doctor was treat ing Horner while he was riding, whilst he was bandaging him up he could have been asking some simple questions to check his mindset. It was pretty obvious to everyone that he was more than just a bump on the head!

Tom Butcher

I don't see how you can make every rider that crashes get an OK from a doctor before continuing - it's just not practical.

rick_chasey

Tom Butcher wrote:

I don't see how you can make every rider that crashes get an OK from a doctor before continuing - it's just not practical.

If people are noticing stuff that correlates with head injuries, checks should have to be made.

Boonen said from the start he'd hit his head.

Having riders from other teams coming alongside the team car to tell their DS that their rider can't keep his bike straight isn't how it should happen.

Tom Butcher

That's a bit different to the question the OP asked - which implies that all riders who crash have to be checked out by a doctor before continuing.

If you are arguing that once a doctor or a team manager has reasonable grounds to suspect a traumatic injury is affecting brain function (or however you would word it) that they have a responsibility to inform the race doctor who has the power to pull the rider from the race - then I'd agree.

OffTheBackAdam

Since crashes get virtual immediate TV coverage, it doesn't take much to work out who should be subject to further scrutinee.
All of the riders who've retired due to a head injury, were on the floor for a considerable time and I believe that they were subject to scrutinee by a Tour Dr.
Ones who've suffered more severe cuts & abrassions all drop back to the Drs car for treatment.
I'm not suggesting that evryone who falls must have the medical OK before climbing back on, we've seen the ones who've got a bit of a bump & a few scrapes, just pick up their bikes & they're back in action. It's the one's who've not done that, who should get an official OK, asap and follow-up before signing on for the next stage.

Buckled_Rims

I'm still shocked at Chris Horner's finish. If the team car had radio contact with him, then surely they should have pulled him out there and then as he couldn't have made much sense to them.

Maybe the answer is having a shock patch in the helmet. If you ever see Mythbusters they have these patches to register how much shock a dummy registers. If the shock patch breaks, then maybe they should be a mandatory elimination. I think it's well understood medically that a certain amount of G force to the brain will equal concussion.

But maybe this is over reacting to this years silly season of crashes.

Tom Butcher

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

Since crashes get virtual immediate TV coverage, it doesn't take much to work out who should be subject to further scrutinee.
All of the riders who've retired due to a head injury, were on the floor for a considerable time and I believe that they were subject to scrutinee by a Tour Dr.
Ones who've suffered more severe cuts & abrassions all drop back to the Drs car for treatment.
I'm not suggesting that evryone who falls must have the medical OK before climbing back on, we've seen the ones who've got a bit of a bump & a few scrapes, just pick up their bikes & they're back in action. It's the one's who've not done that, who should get an official OK, asap and follow-up before signing on for the next stage.

What are we talking about here - a check up after the stage or a check up before remounting the bike. If it's the former then yes - I suppose where the race doctor suspects there was an impact with the head they could have the right to check the rider out and exclude them from the race.

If we are talking about riders having a compulsory check up by the roadside after a crash - well that's a complete non starter for a number of reasons. If it becomes apparent there are real concerns about a riders health though then yes I agree the doctor should have the right in certain circumstances to pull a rider out for a check up and exclude them from the race.