Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Burry Stander laid to rest in South Africa; memorial ride at Hadleigh Olympic venue in April

Hadleigh Mountain Bike Club says there are also plans for permanent memorial to rider who came 5th at London 2012

The funeral has taken place of South African mountain biker Burry Stander, killed during a training ride last week when he was hit by a taxi. The service was held in the 25-year-old’s home town of Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal. Meanwhile, Hadleigh Park Mountain Bike Club, based at the venue in Essex where Stander finished fifth in the Olympic cross-country race last summer, says there are plans to erect a memorial to him and it is also organising a ride in tribute to him.

Many mourners at the service yesterday at the Norwegian Settlers Church wore white, Stander’s favourite colour, which his widow Cherise – the pair got married just a few weeks before the Olympics last year – explained was his favourite colour. TV screens inside the church showed photos and videos of him, reports Independent Online.

Delivering the eulogy, his brother Duane said: “We will love you, we will miss you, and you will always cycle in our hearts for ever.” He added: “We will remember Burry. We must continue riding our bikes for health, fitness, racing or personal reasons and enjoy.”

He also revealed that as he had sorted through his brother’s belongings in recent days, he had found a notebook in which Burry, then aged 11, had written: “I will one day like to be a pro biker. I would like to win the World Cup. I would like to race for a great team.” All three of those boxes had been ticked.

Following Stander’s death, cyclists in South Africa have called for measures to be implemented to improve the safety of riders using the country’s roads. A spokesman for Fikile Mbalula, South Africa’s minister for sports and recreation, has said that a Cycle For Life awareness programme will be unveiled in April.

“We want more cycling lanes, and discussions are under way for the 1.5m passing rule,” said the spokesman, the latter a reference to calls for a minimum safe passing distance, which campaigners have nicknamed ‘the Burry Gap,’ the subject of a poignant cartoon in the Weekend Argus.

Hadleigh Mountain Bike Club in Essex, which tweeted that picture, has said on Twitter that is holding a ride in memory of Stander and to call for greater safety for cyclists, on Sunday 7 April. The ride is planned to begin at 10am, possibly beginning on the Olympic start loop. It has also said that there are plans for a permanent memorial to him at the venue.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Latest Comments