Brendan Fairclough has been racing elite downhill for ten years, throw into that his appearances at the Red Bull Rampage and it’s no surprise he’s taken his fair share of big hits.

In this video we asked Brendan to show us the scars from his nastiest of crashes and tell us the stories of how he got them. Be warned, some of the stories are wince-inducing and certainly not for the faint hearted.

The Surrey based racer’s injuries range from a busted ACL, a split shin that needed 58 stitches and  a ‘hook hand’ thumb that was the result of some DIY first aid.

Professional downhill racers will regularly reach speeds of 40 mph and hit jumps more than 30 foot in length, so it’s no surprise they pick up some horrific injuries.

Brendan has also made a skills series with us that you can watch to pick up tips on braking, line choice and body movement. Hopefully you can learn from his mistakes and avoid any of the nasty injuries that he’s suffered.

Brendan currently races for the Gstaad-Scott team and will be competing at the Mont-Sainte-Anne downhill World Cup this weekend. Check out Claudio Caluori, his team manager, give us his unique preview here.

Show us your Scars is a series on Cycling Weekly that normally focusses on road riders, you can see the rest of the episodes here.

Let us know whose scars you would like to see next in the comments below.