Honda rider Toni Bou breaks 3 vertebrae in Le Mans X-Trial

The painful fall was caught on camera by spectators

REPSOL Honda Team rider Toni Bou has fractured three vertebrae at Le Mans X-Trial in an accident that has ruled him out of competition for at least three weeks.

The 11-time X-Trial winner and reigning outdoor FIM Trial World Champion was attempting to jump from one concrete box to another on top of it, when his rear wheel slipped and he fell heavily on to the edge of his original platform.

Following the painful accident Bou, who has already claimed five wins in the 2018 X-Trial Championship, was rushed to hospital.  Team doctor Joaquim Terricabras diagnosed fractures of ‘the right apophysis transverse of the lumbar vertebrae L2-L3-L4’.

A statement from Bou’s team revealed that the 31-year-old has been advised to rest from all sporting activity, adding: ‘The evolution of the injury will dictate when Bou is able to return to action, although it is unlikely to be any time in the next three weeks.’

With round six of the 2018 X-Trials Championship, in Sevilla, Spain, just two weeks away, this isn’t good news for Bou.