The wife of a cyclist found dead on a road in Hampshire remains unsatisfied as to how her husband died after a coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying that he may have been blown off his bike in strong winds.

Jim Tiles, aged 69 and a former Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii, was found entangled in his bicycle by motorist Patricia Knight at a junction near Micheldever, Hampshire at around 4pm on 13 January this year, reports the Daily Echo.

The coroner, Grahame Short, concluded that in the absence of witnesses or evidence of a collision, Mr Tiles, who had been wearing a cycle helmet but sustained a fractured skull, had been blown from his bike by a gust of wind.

Mrs Knight, who called the emergency services, told the inquest in Winchester: “The weather was dire; very heavy rain and hailstones. It was very dark for that time of day, almost black. It was a dreadful day. It was incredibly windy.”

Consultant pathologist Dr Adnan Al-Badri said that a haemorrhage resulting from Mr Tiles’ head hitting the road surface, was the cause of death, adding, “He probably died quickly/”

Police forensic collision investigator, PC Tracey Saunders, told the inquest: “It was a strange scene. There was a man on a bike in the middle of a junction with very little else around it.

“I would have expected if he had been going at speed to have lost control and crashed. He would have separated from the bicycle and gone off the road.”

Recording his verdict, Mr Short said it was “a mystifying case,” and said, “It is not clear whether it was the wind or the rain or a combination of both.”

But Mr Tiles’ widow questioned the coroner’s verdict, saying: “Why did he lose control? It doesn’t add up.”