Sir Steve Redgrave injured during charity cycling event

Redgrave's fund has raised �6 million for charity since 2001

Sir Steve Redgrave has been injured after crashing during a charity cycling event in the United States.

The five-time Olympic champion rower is thought to have suffered a fractured cheekbone, wrist and ribs after a tyre blew in the Appalachian Mountains.

The 48-year-old crashed out of the 3,000-mile Race Across America just 300 miles short of the finishing line.

A blog on Redgrave's race website revealed he spent two nights in hospital after Friday's accident.

"Even lying on his stretcher, Steve urged the team on," the blog stated.

Redgrave was quoted as saying: "Of all the things that possibly could have stopped me - tiredness, fatigue, diabetes - a simple blow out on the front wheel of a bike going around a corner can cause such pain."

Redgrave's team stopped riding after the accident but resumed the endurance race the following day.

The seven-man team went on to cross the finishing line in a time of seven days, three hours and 42 minutes.

The non-stop race, which sees competitors ride continuously in relay, began in California on 9 June and ended in Annapolis on 21 June having crossed 14 states.

Buckinghamshire-based Redgrave, Britain's most successful Olympian, was competing in the race in a bid to raise £100,000 for The Steve Redgrave Fund and Sport Relief.