Sunweb rider forced to skip Tour Down Under after suffering ruptured testicle in training crash

A rising Australian star has been side-lined for the Tour Down Under after suffering a ruptured testicle in a crash.

Chris Hamilton has revealed he is currently out of competition after he suffered the gruesome injury around two weeks ago, and is not sure how long recovery will take.

The 24-year-old suffered the injury in a small crash while training, saying it’s “just as painful as you think.”

In an Instagram post, Hamilton said: “Almost two weeks ago, I had a small crash in training. I wish I could say I was doing something gnarly but no, just on a bike path.

“Nothing broken but since someone is going to ask what I did anyway, I ruptured a testicle.

“Fellas, it’s just as painful as it sounds.”

Male genital trauma is a fairly rare but potentially serious injury in sports, which can occur through falls, collisions, straddle injuries, kicks and equipment malfunction, according to a study on sportsmed.theclinics.com.

Hamilton had been due to kick off his season at the Australian National Championships on Sunday (January 12) but he didn’t take to the start.

He said: “At the moment, it’s a bit unknown how long my recovery will take but all I can say is the surgery to do some repairs went well and I’ll find out more in a follow-up next week.

“I am pretty devastated to be side-lined for the Aussie summer, but who knows, may a change will be for the best.”

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Hamilton is now in his fourth year with Sunweb and he has been closing in on a big general classification results.

Last season he finished sixth overall in the Tour Down Under, eighth in the Tour of Poland 34^th overall in the Giro d’Italia.

So far he has three Grand Tours to his name – the 2017 Vuelta a España, and the last two editions of the Giro – but he has yet to race the Tour de France.