A stunt cyclist who was injured in rehearsals for the live show featuring former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May today put on a brave face at the launch of the Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle event - despite having broken two bones.
Professional mountain bike trials rider Andrei Burton was supposed to feature in the new world tour of Clarkson, Hammond & May Live - renamed after Clarkson was sacked by the BBC - but had to pull out of the first show in Belfast at the last minute after he was run over in rehearsal minutes before the start.
After being rushed to hospital, doctors said Burton, 29, broke two metatarsals and yesterday had to have a CT scan.
Although he said it is likely he will also miss the second stop on the tour in Sheffield, he hopes to rejoin the tour in Johannesburg, South Africa in three weeks.
He today put on a brave face by attending the launch of Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle today at Leadenhall Market.
Burton, who has been touring with the Top Gear presenters since 2012 and rides on cars while they are moving in a sequence for the new show, said they were “really nice” about his injury and gave him a shout out in the Belfast show.
He said: “I’m the only person in the world who rides on cars while they’re actually driving. We developed a sequence where I’m riding from car to car. It’s a lot of fun but unfortunately the car drove over me... I missed the first show and I’m going to miss the second as well.”
He said the National Urban Trials competition in Green Park on August 1 would be “pretty spectacular”.
