Former professional cyclist Phil Gaimon has been hospitalised after suffering multiple fractures after a crash in a track race.
Gaimon crashed during a points race at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in the Trexlertown area of Pennsylvania, fracturing five ribs, his collarbone, scapula as well as suffering a partially collapsed lung.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, where he posts instalments of his "Worst Retirement Ever" series documenting his life as a former pro, Gaimon says with at least a hint of sarcasm: "So my first track race did not go well as you can see, I'm going to get back in there and catch those guys, to be honest I think I can pull it off. No, it didn't go well, I don't remember exactly what happened, but I hit the deck."
He goes on to list his injuries, saying that having a partially collapsed lung is "kind of scary".
However, Gaimon is determined to turn his accident into something positive, and has asked people to consider the fact that if the American was without health insurance, he would be able to mobilise his social media following to help him foot the bill. Therefore, he's asking his audience to take that money and donate it to No Kid Hungry, a charity dedicated to ending child hunger in America.
Gaimon said: "What if I told you I didn't have health insurance and this was going to cost $100,000 and I asked for donations, would you be able to help me out? If the answer is yes, I do have health insurance, and I'm fundamentally okay, and I would like if you take that money and give it to No Kid Hungry, who need it more than me, believe it or not.
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"That's all I can think of to cheer me up right now, is for something good to come out of this."
Gaimon has been fundraising for No Kid Hungry since before his crash, and has so far raised $45,000 out of his $100,000 total. You can donate to his campaign here.
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Gaimon's crash is of course not the most high-profile of the week and has been somewhat overshadowed by Chris Froome's crash during a recon of the Critérium du Dauphiné stage four time trial course, which resulted in the four-time Tour de France winner being put in intensive care after losing four pints of blood and suffering multiple fractures.
Unfortunately for Gaimon, it's unlikely he'll win a Grand Tour during his stay in hospital, while Froome could be awarded the 2011 Vuelta a España after Juan José Cobo was caught of doping.
During his career, Gaimon rode for Cannondale-Drapac and Garmin-Sharp, winning the USA Cycling Hillclimb national championships in 2017.
Consistently vocal about racing without performance enhancing drugs, he gained notoriety for challenging king of the mountain records on Strava, particularly those set by riders believed to have used performance enhancing drugs.
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Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
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