I know I have not been on top of the Tour, but honestly as a sports fan I usually try to find time to watch some of each stage (I guess with a third child something has to go, ha).  However, last night I was bombarded by concussion news from the Tour de France from around the world, via email and tweets.  I would like to say thanks to everyone that passed along the information, a special thank you to Bill from Australia.  There has been two high-profile head injuries resulting in very intriguing coverage from international press.  Let me add to this, that the CDC (the statistic gatherer in America), has cycling as the NUMBER ONE activity that causes brain injury for all AGES.

Here is what has happened for those of you that do not follow cycling, it started in Stage 5 when Tom Boonen from Belgium crashed and continued in the stage and race the next day.  However after starting Stage 7 he abandoned the race due to his headache;

Boonen sat down to talk with the press but this clearly wasn’t his usual self. He was pale and talked quietly. Almost at the same moment, Cavendish crossed the line after winning the stage’s final bunch sprint. It didn’t matter much to Boonen.

“I’ve got a huge headache,” said Boonen. “Every kilometre was one too many. I was wondering, ‘who am I pleasing by continuing?’ Not myself, that’s for sure.

“I was a danger for the other riders, too. I think I suffered a concussion. Noise, colours… I couldn’t stand them. A honking car that passed was echoing a thousand times in my head. Yesterday was a dark day – due to the rain – and maybe that’s why it went better.” Continue reading →