The vets and women's champions will not be contested today due to a tragic crash just off the race route this morning. The start of the vets race last year is pictured above (Photo: www.blackumbrella.ie)
The organisers of the National Road Cycling Championships have been forced to cancel today's women’s and vets title races.
The events were originally delayed because of a fatal road traffic crash just off the Westmeath course this morning. Tragically, a woman and her three children have lost their lives after their vehicle was in collision with another car.
While the crash was not on the course of the race, it occurred less than 500 metres from the race route. And traffic diverted away from the stretch of road where the fatalities occurred was rerouted onto the roads that the riders will race on.
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It meant racing was simply not possible this morning and that the 11am original start time for the vets’ race and the 2pm start for the women’s event were put back.
Because of the tragic nature of the incident, the road closures were lengthy to allow the emergency services deal with the aftermath and also for Garda crash scene investigators to carry out their work.
The promoting club, Lakeside Wheelers have now said there will be no racing today.
Originally planned to start at 4pm, both the vets and women's races have been called off today and it is unclear whether they will go ahead ahead in conjunction with the elite / U23 race tomorrow.
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The accident happened near Port na Shangan, just north of Mullingar on the main N4 Dublin to Sligo road.
Gardaí say a collision took place between a car and a jeep on a straight stretch of road just after 7.30am.
It is understood a woman and three children, all travelling in the car, were killed in the crash.
The driver of the jeep has been taken to hospital with injuries that are said not to be life-threatening.
Gardaí and the emergency services are at the scene and the road has been closed while a major investigation has been set up.
A statement from the host club, Lakeside Wheelers, this morning read: “Due to a serious accident on the N4 earlier this morning, the veterans’ and women’s road races scheduled for 10:30am and 2pm today respectively have had to be postponed for a number of hours pending completion of accident investigation activities on the N4.
“The N4 is currently closed to traffic and part of the race route is currently in use for traffic management as a result of the accident.
“It is believed that no one associated with the race was involved in the accident.”
The club has since updated its position with the details we have set out above.
Lakeside has extended its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the family killed in this morning’s accident.
We at stickybottle would also like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims.
