Updated: Hull time trial road death: governing body defends the organisation of the race

Cycling Time Trials the governing body for the Hull City Road Club time trial in which a rider was killed on Good Friday has defended the organisation of the time trial, meanwhile Humberside Police have released further details of the incident.

While it was originally reported that rider who died, was hit by a car towing a caravan on the A63. However on Tuesday a Humberside Police Spokesman told the Hull Daily Mail that investigators now believed that Landrover Freelander and the caravan it was towing were stationary in lane one of the A63 when the cyclist rode in to the rear of the caravan.

Humberside Police have still not named the rider who was killed, describing him as a 65-year old from Selby, he was though well known in the time trialling community and tributes have been paid to him by other riders in forums and in the comments to reports of the incident.

Yesterday a spokesman for Cycling Time Trials, the national governing body which oversaw the Hull City Road Club event in which over 100 riders took part, told This Is Hull that the race was safe and well- organised.

He said: "An accident could happen to anyone riding along the road. It just so happened that this rider had a number of their back.

"There is always a very comprehensive risk assessment carried out before an event like this. Traffic flows are taken into account and the police are notified and have never raised any objections.

"There is a lot of organisation behind these events. There are a number of events like this held on the A63 and this is the first fatality there has been.

"It is not uncommon for time trials to be held on dual carriageways.

"When there is any accident or fatality, the board of Cycling Time Trials will obviously look at what had happened and take that into consideration for the future."

Some drivers had criticised the holding of the race on a busy main road.

One, who told This Is Hull he did not want to give his name, said: "It was a nightmare. Everyone was braking and pulling out to get around the cyclists.

"There was one tiny yellow sign saying 'cycle event' and I only came to that after I had come across three or four cyclists completely unaware.

"I had to pull out to go around them despite traffic passing me in the outer lane. I nearly hit one and I won't have been the only one.

"It was ridiculous to stage an event on such a busy road and on Good Friday with no proper warnings. I'm sorry to say it but I'm not surprised there was an accident."

Racing was abandoned following the incident, and the road was closed between Welton Road at Brough and the A1034 at South Cave while emergency services, including police collision investigators, attended the scene.

Good Friday's fatality came less than four weeks after 23-year-old Herbalife Leisure Lakes rider Junior Heffernan was killed during the Severn Bridge Road Race after colliding with a vehicle on a descent.

In recent years several cyclists have been killed while taking part in time trials on dual carriageways, including Karl Austin, hit from behind by a lorry on the A50 in Derbyshire in June 2011, Cathy Ward of Solihull Road Club, struck by a car on the A46 near Stratford-upon-Avon in August 2010, and Major Gareth Rhys Evans, who was hit by a car on the A1 near St Neots, Cambridgeshire, in May 2009 in all those cases the driver involved was found to be at fault and successfully prosecuted.

Humberside Police would like to speak to anyone who might have information that will help their enquiries about the incident on the A63, if you have information pleas call 101.