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Transport Minister Theresa Villiers breaks collarbone in fall from bike

Department for Transport says Chipping Barnet MP should be back on her bike soon

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers, who regularly commutes by bike from her Chipping Barnet constituency to the Houses of Parliament, has suffered that unfortunately all-too-common injury that many cyclists encounter at some point, breaking her collarbone after coming off her bike earlier this week.

The Guardian reports that no other vehicles were involved in the incident, with a spokesman for the Department for Tansport (DfT) saying: “Theresa Villiers was involved in a road accident while cycling to work. She has a broken collarbone and other minor injuries. Theresa will be back at work soon and will be cycling again as soon as she is fully recovered."

In opposition, Villiers acted as Shadow Minister for Transport and there was some dismay in cycling circles when she was passed over for the job of Secretary State for Transport when the Coalition Government was formed in June 2010, that job going to the decidedly less cycling-friendly Philip Hammond.

Hammond has since moved to the position of Secretary for State for Defence, his job at the DfT going to Justine Greening, who at least is a cyclist and has supported bike-friendly initiatives in the past in her Putney constituency.

Speaking last November at the National Cycle Rail Awards at the Palace of Wesminster, Villiers echoed what are surely the feelings of many bike commuters who live at the top of a hill – the journey to work may be a relative breeze, but the one home is a bit of a slog.

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.

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