Long lines of riders halted by the side of the road as one of the bad crashes at the RideLondon-Surrey sportive halted riders for up to an hour.
The RideLondon-Surrey sportive in the UK was halted for a prolonged period earlier today, Sunday, when two cyclists crashed in separate incidents and needed to be airlifted to hospital.
At least one helicopter that ferried the riders from the scene was forced to land on a stretch of road along the course.
It meant the course had to be closed at that point, with organises putting in place a contingency route to take riders around the incident.
Some riders taking part in the event said they had been halted for 45 minutes to an hour.
The delay occurred because of the first incident – near Pyrford in Surrey – when one man riding the event hit a tree just after 9am and suffered serious injuries.
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1/2 Due to an incident that required an air ambulance to attend, riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100 have been held on the route in Surrey
— RideLondon (@RideLondon) July 31, 2016
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2/2 planned contingency route from West Byfleet to Ripley is being opened & riders will be directed to that route. More info when available
— RideLondon (@RideLondon) July 31, 2016
The second, unrelated, crash saw another rider suffer a serious head injury when he fell off his bike. That incident occurred at about 10:55am at Thames Ditton along the 100-mile event route.
The incidents were unusual in that they halted the event for such a long period and the fact all riders were required to finish the event within 8½ hours added to the sense of frustration on the part of many of those taking part.
And while the diversion - from West Byfleet to Ripley – allowed riders to bypass the crash scene, it was some distance from where the crash took place and many riders had passed the diversion point and were trapped between it and the crash scene.
The injured man needed medical attention at the scene for a period before he could be taken to hospital by helicopter.
Parting of the crowds bad accident on the ride London event in Ripley. Hope all involved are ok #RideLondon pic.twitter.com/I7iIOckdiS
— Neil (@N_COLLEY) July 31, 2016
Bad @RideLondon crash nr Ripley... Never seen so many air ambulances before pic.twitter.com/2TrXjoj3b9
— Dom Cotton (@DomCottonComms) July 31, 2016
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