Arvesen breaks thumb but avoids getting run over

By Susan Westemeyer

Most people in California were watching the Super Bowl football game Sunday, but not the Team CSC riders who are already in the Golden State preparing for the Tour of California. But at least one rider might have preferred to spend the afternoon in front of the television, instead of being out on the road, all too literally. Kurt-Asle Arvesen had a very narrow escape, and considers himself lucky to have come away with only a broken thumb.

"After a long descent we made a turn into a fairly busy road and I hadn't noticed the fact that there was quite a lot of gravel at the side. I was next to [Carlos] Sastre and didn't have time to manoeuvre when the warning came from up ahead. I lost control of my bike and rolled around a couple of times," he said on the team's website, www.team-csc.com. "When I got back on my feet the first thing I saw was the hood of a car and I heard the sound of screeching breaks right in front of me. You could say I had a pretty lucky escape really."

The cast on his arm is keeping the Norwegian rider from training with the team, but he is still doing his best to keep in shape. "I'm going to do some time on my turbo-trainer indoors today and then we'll have to see how long till I can join the others again. The cast is all the way up to my elbow, but hopefully I should still be able to keep training – indoors to start off with. I'm definitely not going to sit still that's for sure!"