Van driver forces cyclists into ditch, shouting “Watch this!” with “purposeful attempt to intimidate or harm” during gravel race

Images shared by an Irish cycling club have shown a van driver heading straight into a group of cyclists during a gravel race, forcing them to duck into the ditch to avoid being hit by the vehicle, with the club also accusing the driver of shouting “Watch this!” with “purposeful attempt to intimidate or harm” at the cyclists.

The shocking incident happened at the final round of the first edition of the Clare Gravel League on Sunday, organised by West Clare Cycling Club in Ireland to promote gravel and off-road cycling in West Clare and to raise funds for their new Youth Development Gravel Track. According to the club, the riders were run off the road deliberately by the van driver, refusing to stop or make way for them.

The club wrote: “During the return leg of Sunday’s event, a very serious incident occurred. A navy-coloured van deliberately buzzed four of our participants, forcing them off the road in what appeared to be a purposeful attempt to intimidate or harm. The driver reportedly shouted "Watch this!" as they forced the riders into the ditch.

“This behaviour is incredibly disheartening. It's hard to believe that someone in our small community would show such a blatant disregard for the safety of their neighbours or perhaps even the children who attend the same schools.

“We are relieved to report that all the riders are okay, but it’s frightening to think that with just one more inch, the outcome could have been very different.

“Once again, thank you to everyone who supported the league and helped make it a success. We remain committed to promoting the safety and growth of gravel cycling in West Clare, and we will continue to work together to create a supportive and secure environment for all participants.”

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Other cyclists have commented on the social media post, suggesting that they were hoping the police act on the incident. Vincent O’Leary wrote: “Hope the Gardaí visit the a******e driving the van. Also hope the rider had a soft landing!”

Finn Wheelers Cycling Club commented: “We hope the Gardaí will deal with this person. It shows the importance of having cameras on bikes. Safe Cycling,” while Cycling Munster Leisure Commission wrote: “Sorry to hear this West Clare Cycling Club. It’s alarming and disgraceful behaviour and I hope the Gardaí will take this complaint seriously.”

Earlier this year, a cyclist taking part in the RideLondon sportive was hit by a driver on a road that was supposed to be closed to non-event traffic. The cyclist suffered four broken vertebrae, while the driver fled the scene, with the police later issuing an appeal for witnesses to the serious collision.

In June, pro cyclist Kate Richardson, who rides for Lifeplus Wahoo and won the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, was hit by an impatient driver who tried to squeeze a huge 4x4 past at high speed on a blind bend in a narrow country lane, and then returned to “verbally abuse and threaten” her, ruling her out of the Tour of Britain Women in which she was supposed to participate a week later.

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Last year, Gabriele Glodenyte, a rising Irish cycling star and winner of the 2022 National Road Series, was killed in a collision with a motorist. The 24-year-old, who took up cycling during the pandemic in 2020 before quickly rising through the ranks of the domestic racing scene, was training with her partner, fellow UCD Cycling Club rider and former Irish track champion Sean Landers, near Garristown, north Co Dublin, when she was struck by the oncoming driver and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A few months after her tragic death, described by former pro cyclist and journalist Paul Kimmage as “absolutely sickening”, her partner Landers spoke about the “incredibly difficult” aftermath, saying that even before the crash he saw the roads as “like a war zone” for cyclists.

“I came across the scene, I didn't see it happen,” he explained. “As I was getting there, the driver was getting out of his car. I saw her bike and it was really messed up, it was broken in a lot of places. But she was nowhere to be seen near the bike.

“There was a period of time when I was calling her name, searching for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. And then I saw her socks, upside down in the ditch. But I just didn't think it was going to be fatal. I thought okay, she might be unconscious here. So I just jumped into the ditch to hold her hand and tell her everything was going to be okay, that we'd get help, to reassure her, ‘I’m with you’.

“But once I picked her hand up I could feel there was no life there. She had serious injuries... I kind of knew she was gone. But I started doing CPR on her. I didn't know what to do, I just didn't want to do nothing. And the ambulance people were on the phone and they were telling me to keep going. But when they arrived, they just basically took one look at her and... I don't think they even put a hand on her. They just said to me ‘Look, that’s it, unfortunately’.”