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Updated: Bradley Wiggins in hospital after collision, injuries "not thought to be serious" says Sky

Olympic champion hit by white van pulling off filling station forecourt

Bradley Wiggins was taken to hospital after being involved in a collision with a van in Wrightington in Lancashire. Lancashire Police later confirmed that the Olympic time trial champion and yellow jersey holder suffered a number of broken ribs and further injuries to his hands and wrist.

The Lancashire Evening Post reports that The incident occurred at 6pm when a white Astra van pulled off a filling station forecourt and collided with the cyclist, although the Sun have the vehicle as a car and say that the woman driver was being questioned by police.

The incident took place about five kilometres south of the village of Eccleston, where the 32-year-old lives with wife Cath and their two children.

In a brief statement issued shortly before 1130pm this evening, Team Sky said: "We can confirm that Bradley Wiggins was involved in a road traffic accident whilst riding his bike near his home in Lancashire on Wednesday evening.

"He is being kept in hospital overnight for observation but the injuries he has sustained are not thought to be serious and he is expected to make a full and speedy recovery.

"We will announce more details in due course."

Earlier, a spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "A cyclist has been involved in a collision with a white Vauxhall Astra car.

"The rider of the bike, a 32-year-old local man, was taken to hospital by ambulance with injuries not thought to be life-threatening. His family have been told."

The attendant at the garage, Yasmin Smith, reportedly said of Wiggins, "He said he thought he had broken his ribs and while a lot of police cars arrived it was about 15 minutes before the ambulance got there by which time he was blue."

Crow Orchard Road filling station is the reported scene of the incident (Google Maps)

The Sun, which notes that Wiggins had recently shaved off the 'lucky' sideburns he sported on his way to Tour and Olympic glory, aid that he was being followed by a support vehicle when the incident happened, and quoted a source as saying: Wiggo was on a ride followed by his support team.

He was sent flying by the impact and his pals raced to his aid. A source said: “They were following him in a van and they helped him out after the crash. We think he’s going to be fine, but I don’t know how quickly he’ll be back on his bike. His family have been told.”

A lorry driver, Barry Blacklidge, aged 46, who arrived at the scene immediately after the incident, told the Sun: “There were about four police cars there. All the roads were coned off.

“I could see a pushbike, like a mountain bike, and the front wheel was all buckled. I went into the garage and asked what was going on.

"She said ‘Bradley Wiggins has just been knocked off his bike’. The ambulance turned up and they treated him for a while.

“He was up and walking around, but apparently he wasn’t too good. Drivers were stuck in the service station as the emergency vehicles blocked the exits.”

He continued: “I couldn’t get out of the service station in my truck because there were that many police vehicles there. I had to wait until they had moved. The police were examining his bike.”

Wiggins found himelf at the centre of a controversy over road safety during the Olympic Games when he suggested at a press conference that cyclists had a responsibility to wear a helmet.

He made his comments after being put on the spot with a question related to the death of 28-year-old Dan Harris from Wanstead, who was struck by a bus ferrying media between London 2012 venues immediately outside the Olympic Park.

He later took to Twitter to clarify his comments, saying that he had not been calling for helmets to be made compulsory.

Three years ago, Wiggins' wife Cath, who is herself an age group national champion on the track, vowed to stay off the road bike after being hit by a car while out riding.

A separate incident today in Leyland, less than 10 kilometres from Wiggins' home and 15 kilometres from where he was hit, left an male cyclist aged in his 80s seriously injured whe he was hit by a Citroen car on a roundabout at around 2pm. Lancashire Police have issued an appeal for information, with further details on their website.

Responding to news of Olympic cyclist Bradley Wiggins’ road incident last night, Sustrans Policy Advisor Joe Williams said:

"This collision shines a light on the increasing number of cyclists being killed or serious injured on Britain’s roads.

“Making cycling safer for everyone would cut congestion and pollution and help us to lead healthy lives. The government must create more safe space for cycling on and off roads and look at changing the law to follow the lead of many European neighbours, where a driver is also presumed at fault in a collision with a cyclist.

“We wish Wiggo a speedy recovery and a quick return to cycling.”

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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94 comments

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JohnS replied to CraigS | 11 years ago
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CraigS wrote:

Not all drivers are morons but this one certainly was and there are plenty more guilty of SMIDSY out there. Until these sorts of things are treated less as an innocent mistake and more as recklessly endangering the lives of others then nothing will change.

Note that no arrest has been made. Another one getting away scot-free.

CraigS wrote:

Looking at the location I suspect it won't be long before someone blames him for cycling on a dual carriageway and pushes for cyclists to be banned from them. I'd agree that cyclists shouldn't be on roads like that

I would have thought a wide, straight road was an ideal training ground for one of the world's greatest time-triallists.

And not only do you have a right to cycle on any road except a motorway, when I commuted to work, there were parts of the route where the dual carriageway was the only road available.

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zanf replied to JohnS | 11 years ago
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JohnS wrote:

I would have thought a wide, straight road was an ideal training ground for one of the world's greatest time-triallists.

I read in one report that he was on a mountain bike, heading to meet up with others. [see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/nov/07/bradley-wiggins-hospital-acc... ]

As bad as this sounds, this is the best thing that could have happened, especially if its shown that the driver didnt look.

I really dont want the driver to face unduly harsh punishment just because its Bradley Wiggins as other drivers that have committed worse crimes have received lenient punishment, if any at all.

What needs to come from this is the groundswell that people say 'enough is enough' and actually do something about how car-centric our society is, not just more empty platitudes from guff filled politicians (especially the scraggy haired kind).

Unfortunately, it took a series of child deaths on Dutch roads before the will was there for real changes to take place.

I feel that after the weekend, this will be forgotten and it will be business as usual on Monday.

Get well soon Bradley!

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italiafirenze replied to zanf | 11 years ago
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Sometimes it takes something of a high profile to get things to actually change. Too much apathy otherwise. Drink driving used to be perfectly acceptable, nowadays most people would consider it abhorrent.

Not caring about cyclists IS seen as acceptable, that needs to change. And maybe it takes Brad Wiggins getting run over for people to take notice. Thank god he's okay a few years ago a young up and coming cyclist was killed in similar circumstances not a million miles away from there, it seems maybe things haven't changes much since then.

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lushmiester replied to JohnS | 11 years ago
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I would have thought a wide, straight road was an ideal training ground for one of the world's greatest time-triallists.

This section of road links Parbold (hill) with Standish yes it is mainly strait yes it is fast and in generally good condition but it is a busy section of road with a number of significant junctions including a Hospital and a motorway. In the past I cycled it a lot and early evening would not be a time to do time trial training here and I would think Wiggo was cycling it to get somewhere not per say to train. The potential for a SMIDSY at 6pm is too great as it is an area where a driver is very likely to both underestimate a cyclists speed and be distracted by other road users. I stress this does do exonerate the driver who should have been aware of the presence of another road user especially when they were rejoining the road from the garage.
This part of the UK has some really great cycling terrain mixing exposed flat roads with undulating areas and some short stiff climbs, unfortunately you sometimes have to do sections like this one to get to these areas.
I wish Wiggo a speedy recovery and hope the heavy reporting of this incident encourages drivers to pay greater attention to all road users and pedestrians

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Coleman replied to Richthornton | 11 years ago
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Driving bashing? Are you having a laugh? Is that part of 'the war on motorists'? I drive and I cycle. No, not every driver is a moron. Drivers who pull out from garages and knock people off their bikes are morons.

Glee? Anger and frustration perhaps but not glee.

"It's getting a bit boring now, all the same anti-driving comments following every story of accident involving vehicles and cycles."

The comments are not anti-driving, they're anti dangerous/ careless/ selfish driving. If it's getting boring then push off to the Daily Mail comments pages.

So you're saying not every cyclist is a saint and you'd be surprised if Wiggins was cycling like a moron. Great, thanks for adding that to the discussion. What can we take from that?

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chokofingrz replied to Richthornton | 11 years ago
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Richthornton wrote:

Wow, what a lot of driver-bashing going on. Nobody here knows a thing about this incident other than what each of the media sources have chosen to report to suit whatever their particular agenda is however this driver has already been found guilty with an unpleasant dose of glee by a lot of posters here.

Hear hear. Most of the comments on here show the cycling community as ignorant and judgemental, all too eager to blame and condemn the van driver despite the fact that no specifics of the accident have been published. I wasn't at the scene so I'm not going to make any assumptions about who was right or wrong, regardless of fame or mode of transport. Sounding off with such biased views is hardly the way we are going to raise the status of cycling.

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kamoshika replied to chokofingrz | 11 years ago
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chokofingrz wrote:

I wasn't at the scene so I'm not going to make any assumptions about who was right or wrong, regardless of fame or mode of transport. Sounding off with such biased views is hardly the way we are going to raise the status of cycling.

I can see where you're coming from, but the reports indicate that the car/van was pulling out onto a main road from a garage forecourt, while Wiggins was riding along that main road. Therefore the onus was on the driver to give way, so I don't think it's in anyway unreasonable or biased to assume the driver was at fault.

If the incident had been the other way round, and Wiggins had pulled out into the path of the car, I'm sure the tone of the comments on here would be very different and much more along the lines of "he should have known better than to do that".

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scubajonny | 11 years ago
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Exactly the same thing happened to me 5 months ago. I hope Brad makes a speedy recovery and gets a new set of wheels quicker than I have been able to!

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CraigS | 11 years ago
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Hope he has a swift recovery, doesn't sound like it'll impact 2013 too much fortunately. Maybe some good will come out of a bad situation though. Maybe a few more people will realise they need to pay more attention when driving and maybe it'll make cycle safety worth a few more political points and lift it off the bottom of the agenda.

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themartincox | 11 years ago
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i cant help but think that it seems like an awful lot of police presence there for a cyclist/van incident!

still, its good that they turned up - wonder if they got autographs as well!

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charlierevell | 11 years ago
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Gutted for Bradley, woman will have a lot to answer for come the morning!!
Must feel pretty stupid!
I got taken out a couple of months ago, classic smidsy and the insurance are trying to blame it on me. Bloke wasn't of British origin but was insured, so that's a start.

Rather than questioning why he didn't check his mirrors (I'm pretty sure I didn't teleport onto his bonnet) they are questioning why I was on the outside of the lane.

I wonder what her excuse will be and whether anything will happen!!!

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georgee replied to charlierevell | 11 years ago
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-

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Captain Beaky | 11 years ago
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Crikey, I'll be keeping my lucky sidies in place then.

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Some Fella | 11 years ago
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The Manchester Evening News reports "The woman driver of the van was not injured."
OF COURSE SHE FUCKING WASNT! SHE WAS IN VAN! THAT HIT A CYCLIST! THATS HOW IT WORKS!!!!
 14

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JohnS replied to Some Fella | 11 years ago
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Some Fella wrote:

The Manchester Evening News reports "The woman driver of the van was not injured."

What a shame.

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Tony Farrelly replied to JohnS | 11 years ago
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JohnS wrote:
Some Fella wrote:

The Manchester Evening News reports "The woman driver of the van was not injured."

What a shame.

How exactly would her being injured have made things any better?

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JohnS replied to Tony Farrelly | 11 years ago
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tony_farrelly wrote:
JohnS wrote:
Some Fella wrote:

The Manchester Evening News reports "The woman driver of the van was not injured."

What a shame.

How exactly would her being injured have made things any better?

If drivers were as easily injured in collisions as cyclists, there'd be a lot fewer collisions. The 70% caused by drivers may not even happen.

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steff replied to Tony Farrelly | 11 years ago
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tony_farrelly wrote:
JohnS wrote:
Some Fella wrote:

The Manchester Evening News reports "The woman driver of the van was not injured."

What a shame.

How exactly would her being injured have made things any better?

Well, if drivers were more likely to be injured in such cases they wouldn't risk-compensate so furiously and might pay a bit more attention. The old "curare-tipped spike in the middle of the steering wheel" principle. Obviously no mileage in wishing injury on her once the crash has happened though.

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phazon replied to JohnS | 11 years ago
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JohnS wrote:
Some Fella wrote:

The Manchester Evening News reports "The woman driver of the van was not injured."

What a shame.

Are you for real? You don't even know how the accident occurred and you want the driver hurt?!

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JohnS replied to phazon | 11 years ago
0 likes
phazon wrote:
JohnS wrote:
Some Fella wrote:

The Manchester Evening News reports "The woman driver of the van was not injured."

What a shame.

Are you for real? You don't even know how the accident occurred and you want the driver hurt?!

And I quote:

"The incident occurred at 6pm when a white Astra van pulled off a filling station forecourt and collided with the cyclist"

Classic SMIDSY.

And if drivers were hurt when they drove into cyclists, they'd drive into fewer cyclists.

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road slapper | 11 years ago
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I take it that he won't be on the Chris Evans (BBC R2) show in the morning then. Just saying...  20

All the best Wiggo!

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Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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Wow, hope he's alright and the reports are just OTT as normal with the hacks.

If not, it just shows that sometimes the police do take an interest in cyclist  3

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The Rumpo Kid | 11 years ago
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Get well soon Wiggo.

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ALIHISGREAT | 11 years ago
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So not only does the driver feel shit for knocking a cyclist off.. but they feel shit because its the TdF and Olympic time trial champion.. a national hero  13

Hope he's ok though.. if he had a support car with him looks like training proper for the Giro has started? maybe he'll have to re-think his targets next year  2

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JohnS replied to ALIHISGREAT | 11 years ago
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ALIHISGREAT wrote:

So not only does the driver feel shit for knocking a cyclist off:(

Why do you assume that? Do you not think the driver will immediately start spouting excuses and reaching for his lawyer? Sorry, Wiggo, I didn't see you?

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Steven_L replied to JohnS | 11 years ago
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+ 1 for that;

I got knocked off my bike last month (t-boned a car that pulled across traffic without looking); driver was ok until I mentioned insurance, when he turned round and said 'Sure you're not insured on your bike'.

It turned out it wasn't his car, had to phone police to get insurance details, and luckily, a local shop had caught it on camera. Insurance claim sorted, but absolutely no remorse from the driver. We exchanged phone numbers, but not even a 'are you alright' text.  14

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InvisibleVisibleMan replied to ALIHISGREAT | 11 years ago
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I wouldn't focus my feelings of sympathy on the driver. He or she should probably have thought about those potential outcomes beforehand. It sounds as if he or she simply didn't look.

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_SiD_ | 11 years ago
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Just proves again that it can happen to absolutely anyone.

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Nzlucas | 11 years ago
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My thoughts go out to him, and i hope he gave the driver a proper Wiggo dressing down before he was arrested. It is the perils we all face every day and maybe now it will gain some proper traction among law makers now a high profile accident has occurred. Its a real shame though that it would take something like this, happening to a high profile cyclist for them to buck their ideas up and thats a poor reflection on our elected leadership.

A white van very nearly collected me on the over pass by Ikea Purley heading north the other day. Some days i have 2 or 3 close calls on my 8km commute through London. The common thread is that all the drivers show a lack of understanding or compliance of the road rules which ultimately endangers someone elses life.

Everyone out their ride safe, never assume what a car will do and take the higher ground and obey the road rules.

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JohnS replied to Nzlucas | 11 years ago
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Nzlucas wrote:

Everyone out their ride safe, never assume what a car will do and take the higher ground and obey the road rules.

I'd add to that - assume that every driver is a homicidal tw@t who thinks bicycles are incapable of travelling faster than walking speed.

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