James Cracknell said his Strictly Come Dancing dreams “nearly came to an end” after he was injured in an “altercation” on his bike.
The former rower said he has a “bust finger” and “road rash” on his back following an incident involving a minicab while cycling through London.
He posted a video on Twitter with the caption: “Slight wobble – literally – in my @bbcstrictly preparations. Luckily only a bit of road rash and damaged ego – but I need to get ready for the latter. #daddancing #sharetheroad.”
Slight wobble – literally – in my @bbcstrictly preparations. Luckily only a bit of road rash and damaged ego – but I need to get ready for the latter. #daddancing #sharetheroad pic.twitter.com/eN9KgvNsjF
— James Cracknell (@jamescracknell) August 14, 2019
He told his followers: “I spent a year riding round Cambridge on a bike and it wasn’t a good day for Jake the Snake, the bike that saw me through Cambridge, or me as my Strictly Come Dancing dreams nearly came to an end when I had an altercation with a minicab driver in London. It was nobody’s fault really.
“Bit of a bust finger, some road rash on my back, but OK. Good thing was there was no street furniture around for me to fall into, I was also wearing a helmet and I wasn’t listening to music so I could concentrate and I was focused on what was ahead.”
Cracknell, who was involved in a major bike crash in 2010 in the US that left him with a brain injury, added: “And that’s the important thing to remember (when) cycling, or riding a motorbike or driving around town; it’s OK if you concentrate on what you are doing and are absolutely focused.
“I now have switched my focus (from) riding a bike, and in fact doing anything else, to learning how to dance and, to be honest I’ve got more chance of winning the Tour (de France) than Strictly Come Dancing, but in for a penny.”
The incident came nine years after Cracknell, 47, fractured his skull in a near-fatal road accident in Arizona while attempting to cycle, row, run and swim from Los Angeles to New York in record time.
The injury left him with epilepsy and a change in his personality, and he has since been a huge advocate for wearing cycling helmets.
Cracknell is one of 15 celebrities on this year’s Strictly line-up, along with the likes of veteran TV broadcaster Anneka Rice, comedian Chris Ramsey, Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing, Paralympian Will Bayley and former footballer Alex Scott.