Kerry cuts short Europe trip after breaking leg in bike crash

Geneva

US Secretary of State John Kerry broke his leg in a cycling accident in France yesterday and will fly back to the United States for treatment, cutting short a European trip.

 Kerry, 71, a keen cyclist, was hospitalised in the Swiss city of Geneva after the accident across the border in the French Alps, the State Department said.

 Kerry had just set out on a planned ride of one of the stages of the Tour de France, the challenging Col de la Colombiere mountain pass, a local source said.

 The top US diplomat, who had been holding talks in Switzerland Saturday on the Iran nuclear crisis, broke his right femur in the accident in the village of Scionzier near Chamonix.

 He has had to cancel both a trip to Spain and his attendance at an international meeting in Paris on the crisis over the Islamic State group, spokesman John Kirby said. 

However, Kirby said he planned on Tuesday to "remotely" join the Paris talks.

 "The secretary is stable and never lost consciousness, his injury is not life-threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery," he said in a statement.

 "Given the injury is near the site of his prior hip surgery, he will return to Boston today to seek treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital with his doctor who did the prior surgery."