(Reuters) – Team Sky rider Luke Rowe has broken his right leg during a white-water rafting trip and is set for a lengthy lay-off, the team said in a statement.
The 27-year-old, who sustained fractures to his tibia and fibula, has began his recovery process in Cardiff after undergoing a surgery.
“My brother Matt is getting married and so I was away with family and friends for his ‘stag party’,” Rowe said in the team statement.
“On the first morning we went whitewater rafting. I jumped down into the water but landed in a shallow section on my right leg.
“Being a bike rider you get in a lot of scrapes and you get used to injuries, but I knew straightaway that it was a bad one.”
His coach Rod Ellingworth called it a “serious injury”.
“An injury like this is a test of character for anyone, but character is something Luke has plenty of,” Ellingworth said.
Rowe, Team Sky’s road captain, rode on with a broken rib during the opening stage of the Tour de France to help Chris Froome win the title last month.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
