In what's turning out to be a pretty dark 24 hours for British Cycling, details are emerging that coach Shane Sutton has been hospitalised after an on-the-bike incident. Meanwhile Bradley Wiggins, himself injured when he was struck by a car yesterday evening, has been releasd from hospital and is now at home recuperating with his family.
“British Cycling has confirmed that Shane Sutton, Head Coach for the GB Cycling Team, was involved in an incident this morning on the A6 near Levenshulme in Manchester," reads the announcement on the British Cycling website.
"Shane was taken into hospital where it was identified he has suffered bruising and bleeding on the brain. Shane was wearing a helmet. He is set to undergo more tests, and is likely to stay in hospital for the next few days.
"It is extremely rare that our riders and coaches are hurt while out cycling on the road, even rarer that two incidents should occur in a short space of time, and we wish Shane and Bradley a speedy recovery," the release goes on to say.
"Cycling is not an intrinsically dangerous activity but there is much more to be done to improve conditions for cyclists on the roads. British Cycling is calling on the government to put cycling at the heart of transport policy to ensure that cycle safety is built into the design of all new roads, junctions and transport projects, rather than being an afterthought."
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that the incident took place at approximately 0855 this morning close to the junction of Stockport Road and Clare Road in Levenshulme, south east Manchester.
"A 54-year-old man from Cardiff was riding a bike when he was in collision with a blue Peugeot 206 being driven by a 61-year-old man.
"He suffered a head injury in the collision and was taken to Hope Hospital for treatment. It is now believed he may have suffered a small bleed on the brain and concussion. He is now in a stable condition."
The police statement added that enquiries were ongoing.
Wiggins himself, who has desctribed Sutton as a 'father figure' has been released from hospiral today and the team confirmed that there should be no long-term effects.
In a statement, Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman said: “Bradley has been discharged from hospital after suffering minor injuries, including bruises to his right hand and ribs, but is expected to make a full and speedy recovery. He is now going to spend the weekend at home convalescing with his family.”
More details when we have them
Add new comment
19 comments
Just thought i'd put my tuppence in on the Helmet debate and what happened to Shane Sutton
I'm not going to argue for compulsory helmet use for cyclists, as i feel it should be individual choice as to whether you wear one or not for non-competitive cycling.
However, personally i'm also of the opinion that Shane Sutton may well have sustained more serious injuries had he not been wearing a helmet. This is due to coming off my bike in January 2010, having hit a pothole. Like Shane Sutton, i also sustained bleeding on the brain, bruising and quite nasty cuts and lacerations to my face. The helmet i was wearing sustained a massive split in it. I ended up in Hospital for 5 days due to the bleed on the brain. to this day, i still do not remember how the accident happened, how i sustained the injuries to my face or how long i was unconscious.
I'm pretty sure that had i not been wearing a helmet, my injuries may well have been a lot worse. Better to have a smashed up-helmet that a smashed-up head in my opinion.
Get well soon Shane
These incidents brought back memories of my old club mate Simon D, who was hit by a car on the way to work at British Cycling. He sustained head injuries from which he has never fully recovered, and continues to require long-term care as a result of the dangerous driving.
GWS to both Brad and Shane!
Hope he recovers - some good stuff in the Gruaniad article on the matter - usual to and fro about helmets in the comments:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/nov/08/bradley-wiggins-shane-sutton...
High profile rider but turnng point, one would hope so but the reality is it will not in the short term. The state of the roads doesn't help either.
Oh please, let's do turn this into a helmet debate - because those are always constructive and full of new refreshing points of view that we certainly haven't heard many... many, times before.
While we are at it should we throw in some debate about Armstrong and PEDs as well?
+1
I'd like to point out that I am neither smug nor law-breaking.
Horrible news and sounds like Wiggins was lucky to escape more serious injuries. Could this be a turning point in cycle safety?
Two very unfortunate pieces of news in quick succession. Stockport Road is a pretty gnarly stretch and like many of Manchester's arterial routes is in pretty poor condition as well.
I'm glad that the BC statement included the fact that cycling is not instrinsically dangerous, rather it is the environment in which cyclists travel that is dangerous.
Though I expect that over the next few days some ostentatiously bigoted journalist or other to use this opportunity to point out that cyclists are all smug, funny-looking, lawbreaking communist weirdos who should be licenced and taxed (and probably sterilised for the safety of future generations), and are entirely responsible for every injury they suffer by their very temerity to use bicycles on the road.
Well said that man. Stockport Rd can be scary enough in a car.
IMHO More education of all road users would help a lot, plus maybe the driving test having to be re-taken every 10 years just to correct bad habits.
I don't think this is the time and place for the helmet debate.
Hope Shane recovers well. He's tough as nails so let's hope.
"A Greater Manchester Police spokesman added: 'The driver of the Peugeot was not injured.'
Or perhaps the helmet saved him from further injury?
I'm not suggesting this is the case, merely that suggesting that his wearing a helmet should have prevented ANY head injury is ridiculous.
And here endeth any involvement in a helmet debate for me.
Why is it ridiculous? Lots of people seem to think that a helmet is a magical panacea to road safety so I can only assume that the do think that it prevents head injury. And extends a forcefield around the wearer.
The evidence seems to run 'no helmet, sustains head injury, ah well, should have worn a helmet'. Now 'wears helmet, sustain head injury, ah well, would have been worse'. Exactly what situation would demonstrate that a helmet was ineffective? Death?
This is why we need to look at population level data and not any single case where we can't prove either way what would have happened with / without a helmet. And the population level data says that if wide-spread use of helmets has any effect it is insignificant compared to other factors affecting overall cycle safety.
Get well soon Shane. Sounds nasty.
Should have been wearing a helmet then he'd have been fine...oh wait..? Sorry to hear of anyone having a serious injury such as this, but maybe two high profile injuries in short succession will being some attention to the subject of cyclists' safety.
Sorry, qwerky, but I think you'll find the BC statement says Shane was wearing a helmet and he's not fine. No need to be sarky ....
Get well soon Shane. Bleeding on the brain doesn't sound good.
The A6 through Levenshulme is a freaking nightmare. Sadly Sutton probably has no 'safe' route into town.
As pointed out by Dan Roan:
https://twitter.com/danroan/status/266537787711447040