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Team Sky bus close pass (via Andy Rolfe on Twitter).PNGVideo: Team Sky bus driver makes extremely close pass on cyclist
A cyclist from Wales has filmed the moment the driver of a large vehicle made an extremely close pass as he overtook him on a country road – and shockingly, the vehicle involved was the Team Sky bus (Caution: video contains strong language).
Team sky's bus almost taking me out, sorry about the language, but this needs to go viral for the safety of cyclists pic.twitter.com/nmojiJnoXf
— Andy Rolfe (@AndyRolfe65) September 8, 2016
The video was posted to Twitter by Andy Rolfe from Rhosllannerchrugog, near Wrexham – an area which the Tour of Britain passed through on yesterday’s Stage 4 from Denbigh to Builth Wells.
Just before the Team Sky bus overtakes the rider, a fuel tanker can be seen coming in the opposite direction, with its driver stopping to let the coach pass – and with the cyclist making clear his feelings on the way the driver overtook him.
Mr Rolfe’s tweet has so far attracted more than 3,000 retweets, plus a number of replies criticising the driving.
David Kernohan’s comment was typical of the responses. He said: “Of all the people in the UK who should know how to pass a cyclist properly - Very, very poor @TeamSky.”
Under Rule 163, motorists are told that they should “give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car.”
Team Sky have apologised to Mr Rolfe via Twitter, and they released a statement to us, saying "What is shown in the video is unacceptable and we are sorry. We've already spoken to the driver and we'll be discussing this with him again in more detail.
“We will also be speaking to all staff and reminding them of their responsibilities.
“Encouraging people to get out and on their bikes is a huge part of what we stand for as a team.
“We are a team of cyclists and we all know how important it is for us as a team to set an example when it comes to ensuring cyclists are able to use the roads safely.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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51 comments
Cyclist clearly should've made more use of the slipstream after the pass. Poor.
Credit has to be given to the tanker driver for his skill on the brakes. He's managed to save a potentially catastrophic disaster there, unless it was full of milk?
I wouldn't be surprised if their permanent drivers are on the Vuelta, with temporary or agency staff covering the ToB. I don't know how Sky recruit them, but I doubt it is by placing an ad in Cycling Weekly, or Sustainable Transport Monthly.
On another note, "Rhosllannerchrugog" is now what I am going to scream at the next HGV driver who overtakes me too closely.
Similar thing happened to me on last years ToB. BMC team bus almost wiped out me and my mates as we cycled through Edinburgh. Had to laugh at the irony.
Interesting that a lot of people who probably subscribe to the "actions of one bad cyclist doesn't give us all a bad name" theory are slating Sky for the actions of one bloke.
How about maybe giving them a chance to react to this (given the tweet is approx 2h15 old at the moment) before lighhting the pitchforks?
Your first point is absurd - since when are 'all cyclists' employers of all other cyclists? Can we fire bad cyclists or issue a formal reprimand? Are we somehow responsible for 'hiring' them in the first place?
Obviously, though, it depends on how Sky respond to the event.
What difference wil SKY's 'reaction' make? What could they possibly say that would make this driving anything other than reckless and life threatening?
It's totally indefensible for any vehicle to do this. It is a PR disaster for SKY, and quite rightly too.
Well they could have responsed in a much more proactive way and done something about the driver.
My first post was pointing out that they should be given a chance to respond to the incident before lighting the pitchforks. Now they've shat the bed with that response, I'll light one myself.
Is that why it's called the death Star?
Looks to me like the tanker HAD to stop because Bus Wanker was overtaking unsighted, making it even worse.
Nice to see Sky taking the Professional out of 'Professional Cycling Team'
In the words of Stephen Mulhearn....Unbelievable....
That wasn't clever by the coach driver. Not sure how close the team car was to the coach. Though the driver demonstrated how to pass correctly. Heres hoping that action was already being taken before social media kicked in.
Using all the road, thats not marginal gains...
By passing that closely the driver was able to gain 1 second. Imagine if he then passes 120 cyclists like that , not so marginal any more.
Personally I'd like to see him marginally told off.
He called it right. Proper fuckin' idiot that driver. Should not be licensed to drive on the roads. Needs a retest and awareness course.
Looked close as hell in the vid, must have felt way worse in person.
Nothing less than immediate dismissal will suffice. This constitutes gross negligence in anyone's book. I couldn't give a monkey's how nice a person the driver is, or how clean their licence, or how many kids they have to feed. NOTHING excuses this pointless, deliberate act of aggressive driving that came within inches of killing someone.
marginal life
Totally unforgivable - what hope is there of improving the stadards of your average Arriva bus driver, when Sky behave like this? I hope Sky get in touch with this chap and shower him with appologies and bike gear in equal measure.
""Under Rule 163, motorists are told that they should “give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car.”
I have never liked the wording of this because you can overtake a car and not leave a lot of room (a lot less than 3 feet) because there is no danger of anyone getting hurt.
Cars are wider than 3 feet so I must give them more room that that.
True, but I agree with the argument that the wording is bad because it is ambiguous. Does "give as much room as you would a car" mean same distance from the kerb or from the car/cyclist? It means the former, but you can only be sure by consulting the illustrative photo, which I expect has no legal weight.
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