He may have been English football’s most dangerous striker for 15 years, taming more than a few burly centre-halves in his time, but it turns out even Alan Shearer is no match for every cyclist’s worst nightmare: potholes.
On Friday afternoon, the Newcastle United legend – like many ex-footballers a keen road cyclist since retiring from the sport two decades ago – suffered an array of nasty cuts to his legs and arms after hitting a pothole while riding his bike, the 55-year-old posting evidence of the damage on his Instagram page:
“Ouch. Potholes on the bike are not good!” Shearer, the Premier League’s record goalscorer, posted alongside images of his cuts.
And while his injuries may appear gnarly, it could have been a lot worse for the former Blackburn Rovers forward, considering the dangers associated with Britain’s pothole problem for cyclists.
In January, the government introduced a new map showing how well local authorities are maintaining their roads and fixing potholes, which Labour hopes will hold poorly performing councils to account and drive improvement across England.
British Cycling welcomed the move and warned that, for cyclists, potholes “are far more than annoyance” and pose a real danger of serious injury or death.
Last year, a group of cycling lawyers from Cycle SOS also raised the alarm about the UK’s “pothole crisis”, suggesting the “stark postcode lottery” for reporting and repairs is putting cyclists at risk.
The cycling injury legal specialists put together an extensive report to get to grips with the scale of the problem nationwide, submitting Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to every local authority in the country to map the situation.
“The findings paint a worrying picture: huge disparities in how potholes are reported, responded to, and repaired,” Cycle SOS warned.
“As legal specialists dedicated to representing injured cyclists, we understand just how dangerous potholes can be. These hidden hazards aren’t just an annoyance – they can result in serious injury, costly bike damage, and traumatic crashes.”
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Hopefully, Shearer’s own traumatic encounter with a pothole won’t dampen his enthusiasm for cycling, the Newcastle United talisman known for enjoying riding both on and off the road, after he purchased a gravel bike from fellow north-east stalwarts Vielo.
“Since finishing his football career, Alan’s been a big fan of road cycling,” Vielo’s Trevor Hughes told us back in 2020.
“As he’s had a number of operations through injuries from football, he said that he’s found road cycling paired with Speedflex HIIT training gave him the training and fitness buzz, without any pain on joints the following day.”
And at least his crash wasn’t quite as embarrassing as that infamous driveway tumble suffered by his old England strike partner Michael Owen…
First ride of the year and I forgot the golden rule – if in doubt, clip out!😂🙈 pic.twitter.com/CHZm01XZ5N
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) February 26, 2021
Referee!
3 thoughts on ““Ouch”: Football legend Alan Shearer crashes into pothole while cycling, suffering nasty cuts to arm and leg”
Given the amount of aggression and hostility many cyclists receive from drivers, I suspect that labeling a pothole “every cyclists worst nightmare” is a bit excessive
I think what they mean is if a cyclist hits a pot hole they are more than likely to be injured far more than the damage to the car.
Sounds like his cycling posts are about on a par with his Match Of The Day punditry.
“For me. At this level, if racing cyclists crash headlong into oncoming HGVs they will not win many races.”