British junior world champion hospitalised with fractured vertebra after being hit by motorbike in “pretty scary” training crash

One of Britain’s most exciting young road prospects is recovering at home after being hit by a motorbike during a training ride in Girona.

Harry Hudson, the reigning junior men’s road race world champion, revealed that he spent 24 hours in hospital after the crash and suffered a compression fracture in his T8 vertebra. The Lidl-Trek Future Racing rider described the incident as “pretty scary” after being struck while descending just over a week ago.

“Just over a week ago while training in Girona I was hit on a descent by a motorbike and had a pretty scary crash,” Hudson wrote on Instagram. “After 24hrs in hospital I was released, unfortunately I have suffered a compression fracture in my T8 vertebra. I’m now at home recovering.”

The update marks a difficult interruption to Hudson’s first season in the under-23 ranks, coming only months after he delivered one of the standout British rides of the 2025 World Championships in Kigali.

Hudson became Britain’s first male junior road race world champion last year, taking the rainbow jersey with a long-range solo victory on a demanding course in Rwanda. That performance turned him from a promising climber into one of the clearest British development names to follow, with Lidl - Trek adding him to their future racing programme for 2026.

His early reputation has been built around climbing, resilience and aggressive racing on hard terrain, making the move into the under-23 ranks a key next step rather than a routine progression. Instead, his immediate focus will now be recovery after an incident that left him injured but able to return home from hospital.

Hudson did not provide a timeline for his return to racing, but his post made clear the crash had taken a toll. “This week’s been pretty rough but the support and help I’ve received from Lidl - Trek and Trinity Sports, as well as other cyclists on the road immediately after the crash, has been incredible,” he added.

The Girona roads are a regular training base for many professional riders, but Hudson’s account underlined how quickly a routine ride can turn serious. Being hit by a motorbike on a descent left him needing hospital treatment, and a fractured vertebra will inevitably make caution the priority.

For Lidl - Trek, the immediate concern will be Hudson’s health rather than any racing schedule. For British cycling, the update is a worrying setback for a rider whose junior world title had already marked him out as a rare prospect.

Hudson’s message was calm rather than dramatic, but the details were serious enough. A teenage world champion, newly into one of the sport’s leading development pathways, is now recovering at home after a crash that could have been far worse.