Factory Toyota Hypercar driver Mike Conway Due to a bicycle accident, he will miss his eleventh start in the 24 Hours of Le Mans This week he has broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Another high-profile cycling incident saw IndyCar driver David Malukas weakened by his newly signed contract with Arrow McLaren and miss the first six rounds IndyCar season, including last month’s Indy 500. If I had a nickel for every time a racer missed a Triple Crown race due to a cycling injury in 2024, I’d get two nickels, which isn’t much, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Cycling is incredibly risky, and for racers who want to keep all their bones intact and pointing in the right direction to be truly effective, it’s probably not the best idea for maintaining endurance during the season. Yet almost every professional driver is also a rider. Every competition in the world, from sports cars to F1, is filled with people who find their physical fitness on two wheels.
I’m not completely risk averse. After all, I ride motorcycles. But I can type words on my laptop while lying in a hospital bed. It would be almost impossible for Valtteri Bottas to finish outside the points this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix if he fell off his bike and broke his femur or something else. Does cycling risk your motorsport career, contracts, sponsors and livelihood? Is it still worth doing?
With a bit of luck and effort, Conway will regain his strength and be able to race again, although it’s anyone’s guess at this point. And fortunately, Malukas is back in the saddle and will join the Meyer Shank Racing lineup for the rest of the 2024 season, taking over Tom Blomqvist’s abandoned cockpit. They have both been relatively successful in their own ways, but I hope these injuries don’t stay with them for too long and impact the results of their individual racing careers too significantly.
