Richard Branson says elbow and body padding 'is a must' after bike crash - but also concedes he was holding the handlebars 'wrong'

Billionaire businessman Richard Branson has vowed to wear elbow and body padding when cycling after he crashed his bike and injured himself in the British Virgin Islands. 

The Virgin founder hit a pothole on a ride and “crashed hard”, he said. He suffered a hematoma on his hip and road rash grazing to his arm, but did not break any bones. 

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Branson told of what he had learned from the incident, insisting: “Elbow and hip body armour is a must. 

“Quite a few people over the years have asked me if I had to wear chainmail when I was knighted. Thankfully I didn’t, and cycling armour is a whole lot less clunky!” 

The business magnate shared a sequence of pictures, showing him wearing mitts, elbow pads and Rapha cargo shorts with reinforced hip cushioning.

In the same post, Branson also revealed that he had been gripping his handlebars “wrong”, which may have compounded his crash. 

“It turns out I’ve been holding the handlebars wrong when going downhill,” he said. “I was holding my fingers and thumbs on top of the handle, so when I hit the pothole, I bounced right off. 

“Hold your thumb firmly around the handlebar for the best possible grip. I’ve realised that a lot of cyclists (dyspraxic or not) don’t know this, which is why I’m posting about it.”  

He added: “Anyway, time to get back on the bike. I had a wonderful ride today with a bunch of the team on Necker - accident free!” 

Whilst Branson's approach would be considered a little extreme by most road cyclists, crash protection technology has advanced greatly in recent years. 

Brands like ArmaUrto and Alpinestars have integrated padding into their clothing, giving cyclists more impact resistance. There have also been developments in anti-abrasion fabrics, with WorldTour team dsm-firmenich PostNL wearing lycra produced with rip-resistant Dyneema fibres, made by their title sponsor DSM.

Speaking about the material in 2016, now retired pro Tom Dumoulin said: “Since the last Tour de France, we’re always racing in shorts with Dyneema. I’ve crashed once, and I know a lot of guys who crashed, and we all had nothing on the hips - and we crash a lot on our hips. You can definitely say Dyneema makes a big difference.”