Murn badly injured in training accident

Uros Murn (Phonak) (Image credit: Unipublic)

Last Sunday, January 14, Discovery Channel rider Uros Murn was seriously injured while training on the roads near his home in Slovenia, and will be unable to ride for at least three months. The accident occurred when Murn and a training group were struck by a car from behind on a local road between Novo Mesto and Sentjernej.

The car was overtaking another vehicle when it hit the group of cyclists, with Murn and Primoz Segina of Croatian cycling team BK Puris Kamen Pazin rushed to a hospital in the capital of Ljubljana. Murn, the first of the group to be hit by the car, sustained three breaks in the same leg including an open fracture of the femur. He immediately underwent surgery and at last notice, the surgery was successful.

According to Discovery team manager Johan Bruyneel, Murn, seventh at the 2006 world road championships in Salzburg, was scheduled to be a key rider in the team's spring classics campaign. "This is obviously a terrible accident and right now, I am only concerned about his current status and well being," said Bruyneel in a team statement. "We have a large team with many riders who can race in his absence. The difficult thing is finding a rider that has the talent and experience in the classics. The whole team wishes Uros a speedy recovery."