For years I thought that breaking a collarbone was a cycling rite of passage. Something emphasised every season on Eurosport when a crash occurs and Carlton Kirby yells "Oh, my life!" for the umpteenth time and Sean Kelly responds with his signature, doleful "Yesss, well…" before a wincing rider touches his shoulder gingerly, prompting a qualifying: "Looks like a collarbone…". While other injuries are available, as Kirby might suggest, they just don’t quite seem as, er, cyclingy.
