England player Anthony Gordon said he flew ’10 feet in the air’ over his handlebars in a bicycle crash that left him with cuts and bruises.
It emerged this week that Gordon had been on a recovery bike ride at his team’s training base in Blankenhain on Wednesday when he took the fall.
Speaking on Friday, the Newcastle United winger explained how a combination of being on his phone, and getting confused about which brake applied to which wheel led to him catapulting “ten feet in the air” over his handlebars.
His teammates Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa have previously joked about the incident and the 23-year-old elaborated further for the gathered press.
“We went out for what was meant to be a recovery bike ride,” said Gordon. “It was a lovely day. I was going down the hill and tried to take a quick video for my family just to show them what I was doing and before I knew it I was face first into the floor.
“The electrics [electric bikes] are obviously a lot faster than normal bikes and in England the front brake is on the right hand side, so I tried to press the left just to slow down, and next minute it’s not slowed down it’s fully come to a stop and I’ve gone ten feet in the air, chin first.
“The worst thing about it was, because I was on my phone I actually didn’t know I was falling off until I hit the floor.”
Southgate amused
After the fall Gordon dusted himself down and finished the bike ride.
It was only when he was back at the team’s camp that a medic saw to his injuries.
The former Everton wide man said that Gareth Southgate, the England manager, and the players laughed when they saw what had happened to him, but he acknowledged he was lucky to not have suffered more serious injuries.
“I could’ve [suffered serious damage] with the speed I was going, I was actually going downhill so I could’ve ended up anywhere,” he added.
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He continued: “Funnily enough, I was on a golf course and managed to land on the only bit of gravel there was. I was surrounded by grass and landed on the gravel so really lucky in some instances and unlucky in others.”
Foden back
Also on Friday, Phil Foden returned to England headquarters after taking a temporary leave of absence.
The Manchester City star had returned home to be with his partner as she gave birth to their third child but he is now available for selection for England’s round of 16 tie with Slovakia on Sunday.
The Three Lions have struggled to impress so far this tournament, despite fielding some of the best players of the competition, but nonetheless qualified for the knockout stage as group winners and are in the side of the draw considered to be the more favourable.