Lukas Nerurkar is dealing with a long list of injuries after being hit by a driver earlier this month, with EF Education-EasyPost outlining in a medical update that the British rider has a broken and dislocated collarbone, a fractured sternum, fractured vertebra, broken rib and a small puncture in one lung.
The crash occurred on July 2, while the 22 year old was training at home in England as he visited family after having recently raced the British National Championships. It resulted in a two night hospital stay for the third-year professional and also surgery on his collarbone within that week.
“The immediate thing is, obviously, I’m happy it wasn’t worse, and also it’s just generally scary that a car can do that to you so easily,” said Nerurkar in a statement put out by EF Education-EasyPost. “And then the second part is the longer term of missing out on the racing which I was really looking forward to doing. Races like Austria and Poland and just using up a nice bit of summer form, which obviously won’t be happening now.”
The rider now has short walks with his parents and dog on the agenda instead as he begins the recovery from his injuries and surgery for the collarbone break, which he outlined was not straightforward given the nature of the injury.
“Because it’s the distal part of the collarbone, so the part closest to the shoulder, and there’s quite a few ligaments around there which have been damaged, they’ve had to do some work as well,” said Nerurkar. “It’s not just been putting a plate in. So I think that’s going to take a little bit longer than usual and the fact that it’s a broken sternum and the broken rib too, so waiting for them to heal.
“With a straightforward collarbone fracture, it’s a matter of weeks, but then this time I might have to wait a little bit longer. We’re hopeful that it’s going to be no more than a couple weeks before I can get back out on the turbo.”
The initial estimate by the team head doctor, Jon Greenwell, is that Nerurkar will need about six to eight weeks to recover, with the punctured lung healing well on its own.
It is a second injury-interrupted season for Nerurkar, with the rider who was signed to the team as a 19-year-old after winning a tough hilly stage at the Giro Next Gen in 2023, also having to take time out in 2025 after breaking his jaw and suffering concussion at Trofeo Laigueglia.
Since turning professional, Nerurkar has accumulated a number of podium results and, before the crash, looked to be heading toward the middle of the season with strong form after having delivered a number of top ten results in June, including an eighth at the GP Gippingen.
