Police have issued a witness appeal after a participant in yesterday’s Vélo Birmingham & Midlands closed road sportive died after crashing at around 7.50am on Coleshill Road, Atherstone.
Warwickshire Police say that the cyclist, a man in his 50s, came off his bike at around the 23 mile mark during a steep downhill section with tight bends. He was taken to hospital for treatment but unfortunately passed away; his family have been informed.
We are appealing for witnesses to an incident in which a cyclist has sadly died following the #Vélo #Birmingham & #Midlands cycling event on Coleshill Road in #Atherstone this AM. Please click on the link for more info & call 101 if you saw anything. https://t.co/6073HsfqFC
— Warwickshire Police (@warkspolice) May 12, 2019
Sergeant Shaun Bridle from Warwickshire Police said: “While investigations are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident, we are keen to speak to anyone who may have witnessed it.
“We are particularly trying to identify any cyclists who may have seen anything or who may have GoPro camera footage from around the time of the incident to please get in touch.
“Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family at this difficult time.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has any information is asked to call Warwickshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 84 of 12 May.
2/3: We’ve been humbled by all the positive feedback we have received from you so far, but unfortunately it’s been a day of mixed emotions for us. We are saddened to report that a rider taking part in the event has passed away after being airlifted to hospital this morning.
— Vélo Birmingham & Midlands (@VeloBirmingham) May 12, 2019
Velo Birmingham acknowledged they are aware of the incident and released a statement on social media: “We are saddened to report that a rider taking part in the event has passed away after being airlifted to hospital this morning.
“We are currently working closely with Warwickshire Police and authorities to establish the exact circumstances surrounding this incredibly sad development. The rider’s family have been informed and all our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.”
The death of the cyclist is one of a number of incidents at the event, which attracted 17,000 entrants, that have hit the headlines, with one involving a driver, since arrested which we reported last night, who ignored the instructions of marshals to stop and allegedly deliberately drove at one, leaving him with a suspected broken hip.
Event blamed for death of horse and foal; and post ride traffic
Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting that a mare and her newborn foal died after a vet was unable to reach them due to road closure. Owner Helen van Heyningen said her horse Penny went into labour at around 9.30am on Sunday and died an hour later, and the event security marshal refused the vet access to her farm. The full facts are yet to emerge and Velo Birmingham organisers haven’t commented.
Members of the public and even riders attempting to drive home from the event reported that traffic was at a standstill in Birmingham for most of Sunday afternoon, and some participants were left stranded in car parks for hours after they finished the ride.
Absolute Chaos. Trying to get out of Grand Central/New St car parks. Hundreds of cars stranded. Great advert for Birmingham. #velobirmingham.
— Gary (@gqprfan) May 12, 2019
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
18 thoughts on “Vélo Birmingham & Midlands crash: Cyclist’s death leads to witness appeal”
Why is the event accused of
Why is the event accused of poor organisation? The horse thing is going to be the main news by the MSM and anti cycling, yet the owner did not have any plans in place herself being as she knew there was road closures on a day very close to birth. It isn’t like she didn’t have months of notice of both the pregnancy and road closures. Lots of contingencies could have been made including alerting the organisers of a potential emergency and plans in case it was one of the 2% of births that might need assistance.
And as for the parking, organisers did warn of parking in the literature. But I did see lots of traffic issues mainly because cyclists who attended decided to mostly park less then 100 yards away from the start even though they had means of transport which meant they could easily have parked a lot further out. Some popular youtuber visited a few months which caused more traffic chaos in Birmingham with people stuck for several hours yet they aren’t being blamed for poor organisation.
In terms of the horse
In terms of the horse incident, it was probably a job’s worth marshal. Had CSM been contacted by the marshal then one can assume that the vet would have been escorted to the stables. I feel sorry for horse owner and this incident does not put the event in a good light. If the event is repeated then marshal’s may require better briefings on what to do.
Philip Whiteman wrote:
You are not in possession of the full facts so fuck off with that nonsense.
Some people on twitter
Some people on twitter stating there was an escort for the vet (unconfirmed officially) But I suspect it was the wait for the bike and then it had to go at a safe speed which is the main cause for press release from the owners.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
That is pleasing to hear. Great to hear that an escort was arranged.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
If I’m reading correctly, the vet was not refused access, but their car was not allowed on to the course without escort and so was unable to reach the farm on time? If so, unfortunate, but considering that someone was hit by a car it seems rather inappropriate to be complaining that propper safty was followed and peoples lives were put above that of a horse.
Birmingham traffic at a
Birmingham traffic at a standstill, poor dears, it’s never happened before!
It was a superbly arranged
It was a superbly arranged event and the route was great.
Of course we wish there were no problems but it was a major event so expect a few, surprised at the lady and her horse, wonder why she could not arrange for the horse not to be stuck inside the closed roads, if you live near the course it would have been hard not to know you needed to make arrangements as the organsiers had publicised the event widely and leafleted widely too. Very sorry to hear that the horse and foal were not saved.
A minor wrinkle in a superbly organised event was that we were not told that the car park we had paid Velo for had been cancelled.
Truly sorry to hear about the horrible crash – thoughts & prayers with the family.
FatBoyW wrote:
Agreed – it was well organised but there was some exceptionally poor bike riding on display. Apart from dive-bombing into corners as if they were racing a city centre crit and trying to take places on the final corner there was a serious lack of any kind of communication, from pointing out potholes or road furniture to indicating when moving out or coming through. Witnessed multiple shoulder barges and riders being forced onto the pavement by others pushing their way into gaps that weren’t there rather than waiting for an oppourtunity to move pass safely. I race and enjoy a bit of shoulder to shoulder stuff but the standard of riding was pretty shocking overall
Htc wrote:
Sounds like my one and only experience of returning along the Bristol-Bath cycle path in the rush hour
Agreed it was very well
Agreed it was very well organised,the volunteers/marshalls were fantastic, the crowds cheering us along were unexpected & totally appreciated. But yeah the standard of some of the riding was very questionable,clearly people going for a time who refused to slow down even at the scene of the accidents when asked, or when it was obvious they were just going to crash,there were two crashes going up a hill at walking pace,destroyed a guys rear mech with 10miles to go. Had few near misses myself with people diving through gaps that werent there or not holding their line properly through corners.
Plus the litter,there must have been a near continuous line of discarded gels some used,some clearly bounced out of pockets for the whole 100 miles,plus water bottles,arm warmers,gps computers,apparently someone even lost their car keys and someone lost their timing chip/number en route
Thoughts are very much with the family/friends of the guy who died though.
Commiserations to the family
Commiserations to the family and friends of the rider who died.
As someone who rode this event, the previous Birmingham Velo, Ride London twice and Tour of Cambridge twice, I am not sure it was that well organised.
1. I think the start times should have been staggered over a longer period so that the riders were more strung out. I suspect pressures to reopen roads as soon as possible put paid to this. There was also no checking of colours/waves when I started, so perhaps this contributed to everyone starting almost together and therefore bunching of riders?
2. We were soon onto fairly narrow roads and given the above there was bunching/slowing down at the slightest issue. There are double the number of riders in Ride London, but bunching is not such an issue and Ride London is on bigger/wider roads for longer before hitting the Surrey lanes.
3. The feed stops seemed under-sized with riders spillinmg out onto the roads for fear of being sucked into the frenzy at the stops and getting stuck. Of course, those riders stopping on the road slowed those who didn’t want to stop…
4. Too many riders didn’t understand the idea of keeping left, leaving the right clear for those wishing to go faster.
4. Agree on the litter – way too many gel wrappers littering the roads.
These events are essentially
These events are essentially de facto races, attended by those with nearly no experience of Cycle races as far as I can tell. You need years of experience to be able to cope with the environment you find yourself in, and the majority of the riders in this type of event don’t have anything like the experience required in my opinion.
Judge dreadful wrote:
Stop blaming people who just want a casual ride around closed off lanes, maybe you should start looking at the head down noddy hat strava wankers who choose not to enter proper races but treat these events as such as you’ve said.
This occurs because of the fact that organisers allow racing, it’s not the fault of those with little/no experience, it’s meant to be a casual bike ride not a scrum to see how many people you can get past/how fast you can complete the
raceride in!Maybe there should be a maxiumum speed as per audax events to stop the usual types from making it horrible for many riders with their behaviour, maybe the organisers aren’t as clear about etiquette bearing in mind that this is open to all types, speeds and experience.
Judge dreadful wrote:
So if the inexperienced are not even allowed on marshalled closed road events, how does anyone gain sufficient experience to be allowed on such an organised event?
If there an experience rating system available?
1. Please stop swearing. It’s
1. Please stop swearing. It’s a public forum.
2. These events do encourage poor riding, be it deliberate or as part of limiited riding experience. Some take the opportunity to speed with no concern for others (nothing rare nowadays, me, me, me is the current fashion) and some just cannot cope as they don’t know how to ride in groups. A factor in this is the demise of the club system whereby a novice rode with experienced riders who showed them skills and manners. Now the internet is the guide and people think that they are all racers. Not the only thing but part of it.
To suggest that a closed road is a good place for new comers is valid but doesn’t take into account the situation.
Sadly these events need give and take and there are elements on both sides that are selfish( as proved above) I can see why people object. Several events runs around me. Route signs are still left over from last year, the verges are full of gel wrappers and inner tubes dimwits ride 3and 4 abreast on country lanes.
mattsccm wrote:
For used gel wrappers we now
For used gel wrappers we now have this,
https://www.closethegap.cc/product/hidemywaste/
it’s a little top tube mounted bin. Singletrack featured it yesterday in their Fresh Goods. Environmentally, a bit negative, it is after all made of plastic, but if it stops some littering for people who must have tech and if it’s used enough. Me I wrap my brownies and flapjacks in greaseproof and foil, scrunched up and back in the bag, and put my banana skins back in their bananaguards for the journey home.