‘I heard it crack, so I knew it was bad’: Elynor Backstedt on the moment she suffered spiral fracture to her leg in off-road crash

Elynor Backstedt has recalled the moment she suffered a spiral fracture to her leg while training off-road with her family.

The Trek-Segafredo rider was riding mountain bikes with her dad Magnus Backstedt and her sister when she fell on a steep downhill section.

Backstedt, bronze medallist in the World Championships junior time trial last year, has thanked the paramedics from Welsh Ambulance Services who treated her for her injuries.

She said: “I wasn’t going very fast, but I lost control of the front wheel and fell onto my leg.

"I heard it crack, so straight away knew it was a bad one and felt the pain instantly.”

Backstedt, 18, from Pontyclun in Wales, was riding mountain bikes in May in Garth Woods near Cardiff when she fell.

After her family called 999, she was taken to Royal Gwent Hospital where she underwent X-rays, which revealed a spiral fracture of her tibia.

Fortunately Backstedt didn’t need surgery, but she will be in a cast for a number of weeks.

She said: “My team have been fantastic and have been on the phone telling me not to worry, to just relax and focus on getting better.

“It’s another couple of weeks before the cast comes off and then I will start light training again and stick to a physio plan which can be done on video calls.

“Because of coronavirus, the season-start has been pushed back to August so I will be building up gradually towards competing again.”

The paramedics weren’t aware that Backstedt was a pro when they first started treating her.

Clinical team leader Mike Howells, who attended the scene, said: “It’s always lovely to hear from patients who have been satisfied with our service.

“When we attended the scene it was a tricky descent and the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team were a great help in getting Elynor down safely to where we could treat her.

“We were at first unaware Elynor was a professional athlete.

“We wish her a full speedy recovery and hope she’s back on the road competing as soon as possible.”

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Backstedt added: “I want to say the biggest thank you to them, they were brilliant.

“Without them I wouldn’t have been able to get down from the forest.

“They arrived very quickly and kept me cheered up all the way.”