Olympic cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins has been forced to quit the winter sports reality show The Jump with a broken leg, reinforcing the programme's reputation for injuries and adding to the former Tour de France winner's woes.
Wiggins said he was "gutted" to be forced out of the show after sustaining a "small leg fracture" in snowcross training.
Revealing the news on Twitter, Britain's most decorated Olympian said he would not need surgery or even wear a cast, but had been told he needed three to six weeks' rest. He will not appear on the show past episode four.
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"The eight-times Olympic medallist and 2012 Tour de France winner joins a long list of contestants to have suffered painful injuries while participating in the Channel 4 show," says The Guardian. "The former Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle required neck surgery after a crash during a training session for the programme in February 2016."
Despite a safety review after the 2016 series, Wiggins is the second celebrity to withdraw from the show this year. He will be following in the footsteps of model Vogue Williams, who pulled out of The Jump with a knee injury.
Wiggins's decision to take part in the show came after his reputation and that of British Cycling and Team Sky took a battering over rumours about a mysterious package sent to him on the eve of a major race and revelations about his use of "therapeutic use exemptions" for banned substances.
"[If] Wiggins went on The Jump to rehabilitate his public image, it wasn't a terribly successful mission," says the Daily Telegraph. "Wiggo claimed to be "gutted" by his withdrawal from the series but didn't ever seem thrilled to be taking part. He looked distinctly cheesed off during his interview with presenter Davina McCall.
"The sulky, sideburned cyclist should have taken some tips from the likes of Robbie Fowler and Gareth Thomas – retired sportsmen who are taking The Jump in the right spirit and winning new fans."
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