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Yesterday, we brought you the news of Belgium rider Philippe Gilbert flipping over his bike and over a stone wall while descending France’s treacherous Portet d’Aspet, the same descent Italian cyclist Fabio Carsartelli crashed and died during the 1995 Tour de France.
After being attended to by Tour doctors and Quick-Step officials, Gilbert somehow climbed back on his bike with his left elbow and knee bloodied and rode the final 57.2 kilometers (35.5 miles) of stage 16. Check out the gnarly fall below:
Scary moment as Philippe Gilbert crashed while descending the Portet d’Aspet. Good news: he is back on his bike and racing. #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/iIHFsUSIim
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 24, 2018
After finishing the stage, Gilbert was brought to the hospital, where doctors informed him he suffered a fracture to his patella, forcing him to withdraw from the Tour de France.
The 36-year-old shared a photo of his plump left knee to his 228,000 Twitter followers and it does not look pleasant.
When you have a broken knee cap and decide to keep going for another 60km 🤕 pic.twitter.com/cGoidtQH3w
— Philippe Gilbert (@PhilippeGilbert) July 25, 2018
These dudes don’t get enough credit for being tough as nails. Riding 2,082 miles uphill on a bike over two weeks is something that, try as I may, would never be able to accomplish. And these guys do it at 30 mph speeds while assuming all the risk of crashing that comes with it. If you still aren’t convinced these cyclists are cut from a different cloth, take a look what a pair of legs look like after 16 stages of the Tour de France.
I rest my case.
[h/t For the Win]