Picking back up any sport after a while is going to be tough.

You're not as sharp as you were when you were at the top of the game, maybe you're a little stiff, things don't come as smoothly. Now that's fine when it's football, worst case scenario, you miscontrol a few simple balls, pull a muscle, and sit out the rest of the 5-a-side.

But taking back professional bike racing runs a lot more risk, and that's what former Moto GP champ Casey Stoner found out over the weekend, as his return to competitive racing end in a horrible crash. Having won the 2007 and 2011 World Championships, Stoner took a three year break from the sport, before getting back on the bike at the Suzuka 8 hours yesterday. Let's just say it didn't go to plan.

Stoner, who blamed the crash on a stuck throttle, escaped with broken scapula and a fractured rib. It's not often injuries like that are a good thing, but seeing as we just witnessed him flying off a bike at silly speeds, he's probably done alright for himself. Plus, he seemed happy enough in this Twitter post.

Via Mashable