Two serious crashes at the RideLondon-Surrey cycling event disrupted the professional race that followed it, with organisers forced to halt Chris Froome and the rest of the field for up to 30 minutes as they cleared a backlog of riders on the road ahead.
The crashes, both of which required air ambulances, delayed thousands of cyclists and diverted the huge sportive, which began early on Sunday and saw 27,000 amateur cyclists tackle a closed-roads course through the capital and into the surrounding countryside.
After a first crash, in which a participant hit a tree, organisers put an emergency diversion in place to channel cyclists around the site. They later had to reroute other riders who missed out a significant section of the course after big holdups that saw some participants stationary for up to an hour.
The knock-on delays meant some participants in the amateur event were still on the course when the professional road race came through, which this year featured the newly crowned three-times Tour de France winner Froome among the entrants.
Just over 100 miles into the pro event, marshals halted the riders for up to half an hour before they were allowed to resume.
“This was done on the advice of police on the grounds of public safety due to congestion in Dorking High Street of riders in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100,” a spokeswoman said. “This was caused by a combination of the delay from the earlier stop when a rider required an air ambulance and other riders who were diverted at mile 44.”
In the professional race, Froome’s efforts to help his Team Sky teammate Geraint Thomas win with a breakaway came to nothing when the Welshman was chased down near the finish. The race was won by the Belgian sprinter Tom Boonen.
The first crash saw hundreds of cyclists held between Pyrford and Ripley in Surrey. Both air and land ambulances were called, and the cyclist was taken to a hospital in south London.
@RideLondon serious accident just outside Pyrford. Enormous backlog of cyclists @WhizzKidz hope others are ok :( pic.twitter.com/mIPalu87v8
— Ande Gregson (@AndeGregson) July 31, 2016
A spokeswoman for the South East Coast ambulance service said a man had hit a tree. “It is not known whether he hit the tree on his bike or whether he came off his bike prior to hitting the tree. He was airlifted to St George’s hospital and is in a serious condition,” she said.
BIG accident in Ripley. Three air ambulances and countless ambulances. All cyclists stopped. #PrudentialRideLondon #RideLondon #Ride100
— Katie Meadway (@katiemeadwayx) July 31, 2016
A map of the initial alternative route was posted on RideLondon’s Twitter account:
The diversion currently in place around the incident is marked by the pale pink line on this map #RideLondon pic.twitter.com/xmjLk3jGRf
— RideLondon (@RideLondon) July 31, 2016
In the second accident a cyclist came off his bike in Thames Ditton, the South East Coast ambulance service said. He was treated for a head injury by the air ambulance paramedics. He was also taken to St George’s hospital.
Some riders tweeted to complain about the long delays, and RideLondon later closed a vast section of the route, diverting riders from mile 44 to mile 70 and removing the famous Box Hill climb.
What are you doing about this gridlock @RideLondon? Been walking for over an hour. Will you offer a shorter route? ...
— Graham Hutson (@ghutson) July 31, 2016
Hugh Brasher, the RideLondon director, who also organises the London marathon, said the second diversion was caused by holdups begun by the first crash.
The initial diversion to route riders around the crash site was devised there and then, while the new one, from mile 44, was a planned diversion to be used in case of delays.
“It is what we practise,” he said. “We practise diversions where we don’t have a planned diversion. You go through so many contingencies, but invariably, whatever you go through, you will find something else.”
A RideLondon spokeswoman initially said that as far as organisers knew, all participants had been able to get through via the diversion. The race organisers later tweeted a picture of the revised route.
UPDATE: Here is the new diversion that is now in operation #RideLondon pic.twitter.com/3rb29Bg4ZR
— RideLondon (@RideLondon) July 31, 2016
The sheer number of people taking part in the event means even relatively minor crashes can cause long holdups on narrower parts of the route, such as at Leith Hill in Surrey.
One participant, Jim Smith, who was stuck at Leith Hill, said he had not been told the reason and there were no stewards around to help. He said he believed the problems were caused by “too many bikes, and a mix of real experts and lots of newbies”.
Stopped again! Another incident around Leith Hill :( #RideLondon pic.twitter.com/QsFU4xBMJa
— Tristan Greaves (@TristanGreaves) July 31, 2016
Despite the delays, most cyclists seemed upbeat. Smith said: “Everyone is being very good spirited and people are acknowledging hazards of the ride. Good camaraderie. Although some are shouting about redirecting the route, I think.”
He said he had not experienced such problems at other big sporting events he had taken part in.
The 100-mile RideLondon event had about 1,000 more registered starters this year than last. There were also as many as 3,000 more riders taking part in a new 46-mile event.
It is part of a weekend of closed-roads cycling events in the capital, which. began in 2013 as one of the legacies of the London Olympics. The RideLondon 100 follows much of the same route as the Olympic road race.
On Saturday about 70,000 people took part in the family-oriented Freecycle event, in which an eight-mile circuit around central London was closed off to motor traffic.
