In the 1956 Giro d’Italia, Fiorenzo Magni crashed during stage 12 and broke his left clavicle.
The Giro was only at the half-way point with a total of 23 stages. Magni refused hospital treatment and continued the race with his shoulder bound with an elastic bandage.
The picture above, shows the Italian rider during stage 13 holding a piece of rubber inner tube (Attached to his handlebar stem.) between his teeth for extra leverage.
On stage 16, Magni fell again on a descent due to problems with handling the bike while injured. He was unable to use his left arm, and he could only effectively brake and steer with his right hand.
Not only was this performance one of extreme endurance; it also showed a tremendous tolerance of physical pain. Even more unbelievable is the fact that Magni finished the 1956 Giro in 2nd place only 3 minutes and 27 seconds behind Luxemburg’s Charly Gaul.
