FIVE people were taken to hospital after an accident on the final stage of the Tour of Britain yesterday. A Metropolian Police motorcyclist collided with a race marshal motorcyclist and went into the crowd on The Mall.
The injuries to the four men and one woman are serious but not life-threatening, a spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said. One was being held overnight with head injuries and chest bruising.
The accident came as a blow to the race organisers, who had included a stage in Central London for the first time. Next summer, London will host the start of the Tour de France and yesterday’s race took in much of the proposed route for the road race for the London 2012 Olympics.
The collision came halfway through yesterday’s final stage, just after 3.30pm. Both motorcyclists were among those taken to hospital. Several others, including Graham Jones, the race administration director, who dived out of the way in time, were treated for injuries at the scene.
The popularity of the Tour of Britain led to crowds, six deep on Highgate Hill and The Mall, spilling on to the course. The rolling exclusion zones, in which one to two-kilometre stretches of the roads were closed at one time and then reopened, made for potential confusion.
Advertisement
This incident appears to have been an accident but lessons will be learnt by Transport for London, who brought the Tour de France to London next year. “It is paramount that riders and spectators are as safe as it is possible to make them on open roads in London,” Hugh Roberts, the chief executive of the Tour of Britain, said.
The race itself finished with a collision on The Mall, with three laps of the finishing circuit to go. Ben Swift, from Team Great Britain, was among those to be treated for concussion but none of the leading riders was affected.
Martin Pederson, the Danish rider, and his CSC team duly completed a race victory and team victory. Tom Boonen, the world champion from Belgium, won the stage in a sprint finish in which Mark Cavendish, the Briton, finished third and kept the green jersey for the points competition.