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Cyclist killed after being struck by van driver during time trial

The tragic incident occurred on Sunday morning on the A11 in Norfolk, during CC Breckland’s 50-mile East District championship

A 52-year-old cyclist was killed on Sunday morning after being struck by a van driver while competing in the East District 50-mile time trial championship.

Cheryl Tye, a keen triathlete and cyclist, and member of Plomesgate Cycling Club, was taking part in the CC Breckland-organised event on the A11 in Norfolk, between Croxton and Eccles, when she was reportedly hit from behind by the driver of a Citroen Dispatch van.

Emergency services, including an air ambulance, were called to Roudham at around 9.40am on Sunday, but the 52-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

A former member of the Royal Air Force and manager of Hadleigh Town Council in Suffolk, Tye was praised by her former council colleagues, who described her as “a dynamic and determined person and unmistakably from Yorkshire”.

“Her death is a terrible tragedy, and the only comfort I can find in it is that it happened while she was doing the thing she loved best, competing,” said former Hadleigh mayor Frank Minns.

Cheryl’s husband Chris, who was also taking part in Sunday’s time trial, paid tribute to his wife on social media, writing: “She loved doing triathlons and all sport, gardening and looking after four gerbils.

“She touched everyone she came across in a positive way and will be sorely missed. She was my soulmate, a beautiful spirit and I loved the time I had with her.”

The A11 dual carriageway in Norfolk, while a popular time trialling venue for local clubs, has witnessed a number of collisions involving racers and drivers in recent years.

In 2010, Will Dorset was airlifted to hospital with a suspected broken vertebrae following a collision 175 miles into his 12 hour time trial on the road.

Less than a year ago, we reported that a female cyclist was seriously injured after being hit by a van driver from behind during a time trial on the section of the A11 between Snetterton and Shropham.

Norfolk Constabulary have asked anyone with information or dashcam footage related to Sunday’s tragic incident to contact the Norfolk Serious Collision Investigation Unit by email at SCIU [at] norfolk.police.uk or by ringing 101 and quoting incident number 119 of 26/06/2022.

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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15 comments

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grOg | 1 year ago
0 likes

note to self; my eulogy is not to contain any mention of gerbils.

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Rendel Harris replied to grOg | 1 year ago
4 likes

grOg wrote:

note to self; my eulogy is not to contain any mention of gerbils.

Yep, this story is certainly an appropriate place for "humour". Show some respect, please.

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ooblyboo | 1 year ago
13 likes

This is terrible - very sad that someone's weekend TT could end up this way and I feel for anyone close to them.

I was struck on a TT from behind by a van earlier this year on a different course and haven't raced an open event since. Fortunately, I was lucky enough not to crash and only received minor injuries. Although we don't know the circumstances surrounding this collision, sadly it seems drivers are more and more distracted.

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
21 likes

Condolences to the family and friends.

This is the latest in the hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of serious injuries that we as a society justify because driving is so important; I disagree.  We need a comprehensive review of mobility, private and public transport, and road laws so that we can dispassionately work out how we get around safely.

Nothing is so important that we calmly accept thousands of deaths every year.

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joe9090 | 1 year ago
12 likes

If phone use at the wheel is not involved in this tragic incident, I would eat my hat

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Hirsute | 1 year ago
5 likes
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Dicklexic | 1 year ago
7 likes

Very tragic, and regrettably similar to the incident that led to the death of Rebecca Comins less than a month ago near Raglan in Monmouthshire. Sincerest condolences to Cheryl's family and friends.

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DCLane | 1 year ago
19 likes

RIP. Signage, rear light, reflective number, on a straight road and still can't be seen!

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maviczap replied to DCLane | 1 year ago
8 likes
DCLane wrote:

RIP. Signage, rear light, reflective number, on a straight road and still can't be seen!

And with lots of other competitors on the road at the same time

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brooksby | 1 year ago
10 likes

Because it is so hard to see the things right in front of you on a dual carriageway... surpriseno

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HoarseMann replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
16 likes

Especially for a van, whose driver will be adhering to the reduced 60mph limit that applies on a national-limit dual-carriageway.

I hope the police investigation is thorough and the family get justice for their loss.

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ribena replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
8 likes

It's the same road where this driver failed to see a roundabout
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-norfolk-49206600

310 fine, 12 month ban.

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Capercaillie replied to ribena | 1 year ago
0 likes

ribena wrote:

It's the same road where this driver failed to see a roundabout
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-norfolk-49206600

310 fine, 12 month ban.

I really don't want that person back on the road ever again!  It's sheer luck no-one was killed.

It's not mentioned but as the driver was only 17 at the time, he should also have failed the 2 year new driver probationary period and should have to retake his test.  I would hope it would be the extended version, but nothing is mentioned in the report.

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Capercaillie replied to stonojnr | 1 year ago
1 like

Thanks for that info.  At least that means he can't legally get behind the wheel on his own from the moment the driving ban expires.  It's a shame he's not banned for a lot longer, a least until he's 25, although he will probably now find it very difficult to get insurance.

 

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