Valentino Rossi’s reputation as one of the coolest hard men in sport suffered a blow when the six-time world motorcycling champion was taken to hospital after a curtain-related incident. The Italian legend’s fall from grace resulted in him having stitches to wounds in his foot and hand as he rued an ill-fated attempt to fix the drapes at his home.
Rossi fell is believed to have been closing the curtains when he tripped and fell onto a glass table. That broke and he suffered cuts to his left hand and the sole of his left foot. While the injuries are not serious, they are badly timed as Rossi is due to ride his Yamaha at the first MotoGP test of the season in Sepang, Malaysia tomorrow.
A statement from his Yamaha team said Rossi went to his local hospital where “several stitches were required on each wound”.
The accident has not disrupted Rossi’s plans to leave for Malaysia on Tuesday to start testing his new bike for the 2009 season, Yamaha said.
“But it is not immediately clear whether his injuries will allow him to ride comfortably this week,” the Japanese team added.
Rossi, 29, who has two years left on his contract with Yamaha, secured his sixth top-class world title last season after a two-year absence from the top of the championship podium.
Such was his dominance in 2008 that he secured his latest world title with three races left to go.
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