Richard Branson suffers 'nasty' injuries in cycling accident

Sir Richard Branson has suffered "nasty" injuries after hitting a pothole and falling off his bike in the British Virgin Islands, the billionaire has revealed

The Virgin founder said he took "quite a big tumble", posting a photo on Instagram showing him with a bloody elbow alongside a fellow cyclist who also came a cropper.

Sir Richard posted: "I hit a pothole and crashed hard, resulting in another hematoma on my hip and a nasty cut elbow, but amazingly nothing broken.

"We were cycling with Alex Wilson, who fell after me, but thankfully he was ok as well.

"I'm counting myself very lucky, and thankful for keeping myself active and healthy.

"After all, the brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all!"

It is not the first time the 73-year-old has found himself with a cycling-related injury.

In 2018, the mogul thought he had broken his back after being thrown off his bike during a charity race.

And in 2016, he said he feared he would die after smashing head-first onto the road during a high-speed bike crash.

He was on a training ride with his two grown-up children on the British Virgin Islands when he flew off his bicycle.

On that occasion he revealed: "I was heading down a hill towards Leverick Bay when it suddenly got really dark and I managed to hit a 'sleeping policeman' hump in the road head on.

"The next thing I knew, I was being hurled over the handlebars and my life was literally flashing before my eyes."

After the crash he was taken to Miami for X-rays and scans, where it was found that he had suffered a cracked cheek and torn ligaments.

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The billionaire claims to have counted 76 near-death experiences in his life, according to his autobiography, beginning in 1972 on his honeymoon with his first wife, when a fishing boat he was on sank.

He also previously crash-landed in a field in 1976 after he accidentally took off in a microlight aircraft he "had no idea" how to fly.

The engine also exploded on the first Virgin Atlantic test flight in 1984 and, two years later, he pulled the wrong cord skydiving and was falling through the air before his instructor managed to tug the spare cord.

He has also had several mishaps while on hot air balloons, wing-walking on a Virgin jet, and jumping off a casino in Las Vegas.