British cyclist Kate Richardson will miss the Tour of Britain Women after being hit by an impatient driver during a training ride near Holmfirth, Yorkshire. Richardson, who rides for Lifeplus Wahoo and won the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix last month, shared the incident on Instagram, revealing her injuries and the circumstances surrounding the crash.
“Yesterday morning I was hit by a car from behind whilst out on a training ride, resulting in a refractured scapula, an incredibly bruised and swollen right hip and plenty more road rash to add to last week’s collection,” she explained. “This of course means no Tour of Britain this week and I’m currently uncertain about what the rest of the season holds.”
Richardson recounted how the driver attempted to overtake her at high speed on a narrow, blind bend, hitting her and knocking her off her bike. “Clearly the driver couldn’t wait ten more seconds to overtake me,” she said. “He decided to try and squeeze his huge 4×4 past me at a high speed, hitting me hard and knocking me off my bike. Initially, he just drove on but turned around and came back later to verbally abuse and threaten me before getting back in his car and driving off again.”
The incident, which is now under police investigation, left Richardson not only with physical injuries but also shaken mentally. “This is a lot more than just a physical injury, it was incredibly scary and I count myself lucky that I walked away relatively unscathed compared to what it could have been. Mentally though, it will take a while to overcome.”
Despite the severity of the crash, Richardson remains hopeful for justice. “The police are dealing with the incident, and with witnesses and potential CCTV footage I’m hopeful that some sort of justice will prevail.”
Reflecting on the accident, Richardson compared it to race-related crashes. “Whilst racing incidents are never nice, we know that unfortunately they sometimes come with the territory. Even when not at fault we have no choice but to accept them and move on,” she noted. “This however, is incredibly hard to accept. It just should never have happened. There are far too many stories about cyclists being hit by cars whilst out training and there is absolutely no excusing it.”
She also mentioned the emotional toll of missing out on a significant event. “Knowing that once again I’ll be missing a key racing block, whilst knowing what sort of shape I’ve worked so hard to be in, is hugely disappointing and hard to get my head around. I’d say that normally I’m good at dealing with these types of situations, but with this being my fourth serious crash in under a year, my body and my mind is in need of some rest and recovery before thinking about returning to competition.”
