I was still crawling out of bed this morning when the coverage of the Tour of the Basque Country’s 5th stage was on, so I missed the part where some riders crashed into a motorbike. The husband saw it and says the motorbike was (surprise, surprise) where it shouldn’t have been. I reiterate my statement that someone needs to get a handle on these motorbikes in races. There are too damned many of them on the roads, and while I certainly like seeing the live footage and the photos afterwards, that can be done with far fewer bikes than there currently are in some of these races - especially when the course goes over tiny mountain passes which are also going to be crammed with spectators trying to catch a fleeting glimpse of the cyclists breezing past. Nowadays, they’re more likely to get an eyeful of motorcycle than anything else.

The injury report from the Vuelta a Pais Vasco today is long, and several riders won’t be taking part sounded like they wouldn’t be taking part in the final stage (an individual time trial), including Sergio Paulinho, Jurgen Van Goolen and Egoi Martinez. Martinez is the one who collided with the motorbike, and he’s reportedly okay. Two others who crashed today were Koldo Gil and Jose Angel Gomez. Gomez was much worse off than his teammate, and will need x-rays to make sure he didn’t fracture anything.

From this past Wednesday’s crash-laden Gent-Wevelgem, however, the injury reports aren’t as optimistic. Marco Velo broke his collarbone and two ribs and also tore the ligaments in his right knee. He’ll be out of commission for awhile. Matt Wilson also crashed on Wednesday, and ended up with a broken hand.

In other news, the weather forecast for Sunday’s Hell of the North is hot and sunny. Bummer. And before you get indignant, I say that not because I enjoy seeing riders crash (hell, they do that during Paris-Roubaix whether it’s raining or clear), I say that because there’s something about a dry and dusty Paris-Roubaix that seems odd to me. I prefer it when every rider looks like they’re on the same team - the mud-colored one.

Whatever the forecast, however, it looks to be a fantastic race - Cancellara going for his second win while Boonen tries to make something of his early season (since other things haven’t quite gone his way yet) and everyone and their brother just tries to stay upright and out of the ditch. Will there be a dark horse who emerges from the Arenberg on his own? Will a train separate the peloton and decide the race? I’m already salivating just thinking about watching the race… You can read a preview here.