Cycle legend, 83, still smiling after accident

The 83-year-old Yorkshireman, who was the first Briton to win a stage on the Tour de France in 1958, also suffered six broken ribs, a punctured lung and a laceration on his arm after he was hit by a car near Dewsbury.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Robinson said: “I am in good company. (Mark) Cavendish fell off first and then (Chris) Froome broke his wrist, which I have done actually a long time ago. I am in good company. You cannot get much better really, can you?

“It’s a sad ending to the summer. Everything else has gone well so I cannot complain really.”

Mr Robinson, of Mirfield, was taken to hospital less than a fortnight after he was one of the guests of honour when the famous race visited his home county of Yorkshire earlier this month.

The veteran road racer had been cycling with friends on Wednesday when he was hit by a car on Lees Hall Road in Thornhill Lees, near Dewsbury, at around 1.20pm.

He said: “I’m not bad in myself. It’s just when I move it hurts. If life is going to be like this you have to get on with it. These things happen and set you back – being a Yorkshireman you get over them.”

The rider was one of the poster-boys of Yorkshire’s successful bid to get the Grand Départ of the Tour de France to the county.

He has been inundated with messages from the world of cycling and beyond.

Former British cycling Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman, who won three stages of the Tour de France and wore the yellow jersey on three occasions, tweeted: “Wishing Brian Robinson a speedy recovery.”