Heroes of the Tour de France:  Johnny Hoogerland

Torn to shreds and needing 33 stitches after being thrown into a barbed wire fence during stage 9, Johnny Hoogerland finishes the stage to take the polka dot jersey and the prize for most aggressive rider of the day.  He cried on the podium because he thought he was going to die in an accident that should never have happened, caused by a French TV car.

He then goes on to not only finish the Tour but spend a few more days off the front in breakaways, saying “I’m a Zeelander. We’re not easy to tear apart.”

Gives new meaning to the term hardman.