Champion Cyclist Injured While Playing His Wii

(Taken from "Today on AOL")
Posted Dec 12th 2008 1:55PM by Wina Sturgeon (author feed)

Mark Cavendish has set a lot of British records. He won four stages of the Tour de France this year, the best ever results by a British cyclist. He's won gold medals at numerous European races, including the World championship Madison, the Commonwealth Games Scratch Race, and won two stages of the Giro d'Italia this year.

But put him on a Wii platform to play a snowboard game, and he becomes a danger to himself -- and any furniture that happens to be nearby.

Cavendish was playing the snowboard game (no reports on whether it was Shaun White's new game), when he got a little too into it. While rocking with his feet and thumbs, he sliped off the platform substituting for a snowboard, fell and injured his calf muscle.

Now that takes some doing! The injury hurt a cyclists most important muscle (though in any kind of bike riding, all the muscles are important). But for road racers, the calf is used hard in every pedal stroke, both pressing down and pulling up.

Cavendish was supposed to go out and train on his bike after the game; but the calf injury meant he couldn't ride. This is not a good thing, because even in cycling's off season, riders on his level can't allow one smidgen of their fitness to evaporate by slacking on their training. He rides for Team Columbia, and the team has scheduled a training camp in Majorca for later this month. Cavendish, fairly new to the elite peleton and Columbia's top sprinter, will be expected to attend.

"It's a bother," he said, downplaying the injury. But he expects to get the best sports medicine care and be back in the saddle by Christmas. However, for the rest of his life, Cavendish will be known as the guy who got hurt playing Wii.

He is one of the best sprinter in the peleton. I hope he gets better quick. A lot of people dont know but Team Columbia is the old USPS team and Team Discovery which Lance rode for and will probably ride for this year. Even though he wont help lance all that much because he is a sprinter he is one hell of a rider.

how embarrassing would that be, though?...having to explain why you can't train-"I hurt myself playing my wii".

I saw something on t.v. a few weeks ago talking about how many wii injuries the doctors are seeing these days...tennis elbow type stuff. still, it's better than the couch potato type games, at least they are moving...and alot of rehab places are using them to help people.

this sounds like an injury my son would cause himself, though. He's just a bit accident prone.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LCAS_712</div><div class="ubbcode-body">He is one of the best sprinter in the peleton. I hope he gets better quick. A lot of people dont know but Team Columbia is the old USPS team and Team Discovery which Lance rode for and will probably ride for this year. Even though he wont help lance all that much because he is a sprinter he is one hell of a rider. </div></div>
Lance is actually going to ride for astana, which also has a lot of Discovery ties. But Cavendish is the best sprinter in the peleton right now.

haha that's good stuff i bet he feels stupid