Bradley Wiggins, London 2012 Olympic Games, time trials
Bradley Wiggins was hit by a car whilst out riding on Wednesday in Lancashire, resulting in the Tour de France and Olympic time trial champion being admitted to hospital with suspected fractured ribs and a wrist injury.
According to a report published on Wednesday night by the Lancashire Evening News, Wiggins collided with the car as it left a petrol station forecourt in Wrightington, near Chorley at around 6pm.
"By the time I got there he had moved to a safer place but was still on the ground and he was in a lot of pain," garage attendant Yasmin Smith told the Lancashire Evening News.
"He said he thought he had broken his ribs and while a lot of police cars arrived it was about 15 minutes before the ambulance got there by which time he was blue."
Lancashire Police confirmed to the BBC that it was a white Astra car that had collided with a '32-year-old man' and that his injuries were 'not life threatening'.
Wiggins' Sky team issued a brief statement later in the evening: "We can confirm that Bradley Wiggins was involved in a road traffic accident whilst riding his bike near his home in Lancashire on Wednesday evening.
"He is being kept in hospital overnight for observation but the injuries he has sustained are not thought to be serious and he is expected to make a full and speedy recovery."
Wiggins is scheduled to appear alongside actress Cameron Diaz and singer Rod Stewart on the Graham Norton Show on BBC One this Friday night.
The 32-year-old Sky rider enjoyed his best season yet as a professional, winning the Tour de France, gold in the Olympic Games time trial, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine. He finished second overall behind Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) in the Union Cycliste Internationale WorldTour.
Wiggins is currently the bookmakers' favourite for this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
Related links
Bradley Wiggins: Rider Profile
Reader comments
Add your comments
William
November 07 23:43
White van drivers, do we need to say any more? Total disregard for all other road users. Just like taxi drivers. They presume some prioirity on the roads......like everyone else is driving around wasting time. Far too much antisocial attitude, particularly towards cyclists
Terry
November 07 23:48
Perhaps someone in authority will now sit up and take notice regarding the safety of cyclists on the road, a pity it took such a high profile casualty to get the headline attention in the media- 2nd item on BBC News 24. Hope Brad had good lights, even though they wouldn't have helped as there are no mandatory eye tests for drivers. Was the driver one of the 1million or so drivers settled here from overseas who took their tests in their home country and now have UK licences without having to take a UK test ? Get well soon, the sport needs your honesty and integrity now more than ever, especially with SPotY coming up !!!!!
roginoz
November 08 01:49
Get out of my way. I m a car driver and I ve paid my Road Tax. Who do you think you are, Bradley Bloody Wiggins ?? GWS Bradley.
Tom Knox
November 08 03:33
All of us on the other side of the pond wish you a speedy recovery Bradley. In the era of doping and corruption you are a beacon of hope for our sport. Get well soon.
David Chadderton
November 08 04:28
So sorry Bradley. Road riding is always a danger. Rider safety in the UK must have deteriorated since I commenced at the age of 8 in 1952 in North London. I always felt safe riding around Hampshire and Oxfordshire in the 50s' -90s' but was always vigilant. No one is immune from the danger and a car emerging from a country side road knocked me off; it is so easy. Pull that malliot jaune back on for hospital PJ's and get well soon. We are all thinking of you in Ballarat, oh, and of Cadel of course.
adam
November 08 05:11
Get well soon!!! Thoughts with you! For this very reason, I'm really edging away from cycling in the last few months. This year seems to have been too full of news of cyclists injured and killed. Thoughts with you - and all those who are recovering from accidents!
steven manns
November 08 08:15
Brads going to be out for a long time with broken ribs. Get well sooner rather than later. Questions need to be asked as to why it took the ambulance so long to get to the accident.
T Anderson
November 08 08:30
Must be Wiggo's fault! He was on a racing bike and therefore deemed to be riding too fast. Nothing the poor van driver could do to avoid hitting him!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike
November 08 08:44
I hope Brad is ok and his injuries heal quickly. If any good can come from this horrible situation, it could be this. Because of Brads profile in Britain at the moment It could finaly flag up to the PTB that action needs to be taken to help awareness of cyclists, and to take more punitive action against drivers that cause injury, and worse, through neglegent driving. I dont know the full details of the incident yet so I am not sugesting the driver was at fault, just making a point.
Arthur Franks
November 08 08:51
Hope you are not too badly hurt Brad. Our family wishes are with you. Yet another SMIDSY and the car driver was unhurt. Course they were in a metal box. Now a national hero is a victim perhaps these incidents will be taken more seriously. Brad you are our family's hero
Ol Rappaport
November 08 09:18
White van driver pulls out in front of cyclist despite unobstructed view - nothing new there then! SMIDSY What odds the driver was on the phone: "I'm just leaving the garage now, I'll be with you in about ten min... what's that noise?"
William Hirst
November 08 09:33
Who would have thought it, someone getting knocked off there bike being on the front page of the Sun.
Mark Jones
November 08 10:31
Did the driver stop? I hope Wiggo uses his position now to highlight the dangers that us cyclists face from motorists
Pete
November 08 12:03
All best wishes to Brad. This bloody country and it's stupid drivers....
Stewart Oakes
November 08 12:12
Hope Brad gets well soon. I find it interesting though that while people on here are talking about motorists not looking that 25% who have posted before me failed to see the word CAR three times in the report.
TG
November 08 12:24
Bradley. What were you doing riding your bike in the dark? Ride in the daytime! No one would chose to ride in the dark if they had the option. Get back on that bike soon.
Lancearmpong
November 08 12:48
Get well soon Brad. Can you imagine the driver filling out the insurance claim form........
ted hutton
November 08 13:24
was he wearing bright coloured clothing as recommended ,aside from this hope he will have a speedy return to riding BEST OF LUCK TEDRICK
T Anderson
November 08 14:41
Now Shane Sutton! Has Jeremy Clarkson been preaching in the Manchester area? Best wishes to both. Look forward to G Norton Show.
Richard Wheatcroft
November 08 17:04
Note the use of word 'collided' - which implies the cyclist was to blame - not the driver failed to observe a rider.
Ken Evans
November 08 17:28
If I had an employee worth millions to me, then providing a motorcycle outrider or lead-car / following car, would seem like a sensible thing to invest in. Even some "celebrities" have "minders" when they are out and about.
Mick W
November 08 19:00
Good job it wasn`t Chris Hoy , he would have written the bloody van off !! Get well soon Brad. Just heard about Shane Sutton too,......WTF !!
Peter Goodall
November 08 19:22
This sort of thing is what we are up-against ever day.I hope you get well very soon Bradley. Just one question,why were you training in the dark?
mark aka gus
November 08 20:22
all the best brad - hope you recover soon.... hope you dont meet idiots like roginoz too soon...
Pee Bee
November 08 22:04
Clearly this is a shock and a wake-up call for all cyclists and those who manage roads and I wish Wiggo a swift recovery. However, whilst Terry in his earlier comment correctly draws attention to the need to improve the situation on British roads for cyclists in terms of driver awareness, I must query his question “was the driver one of the 1 million or so drivers settled here from overseas who took their tests in their home country and now have UK licences without having to take a UK test?” I live in France (dans Les Pyrénées) and I know without a shadow of doubt which of the two nationalities I would rather have behind the wheel of a motor-vehicle whilst I am cycling. It would have to be the French every time. Of course there is the odd French driver who cuts in a little close (but not close by British standards) or who genuinely does not see you in certain conditions (and is usually apologetic), but 99% of the time, not only have I experienced a high degree of cycle awareness and courteous driving, but above all a tolerance of cyclists…no tolerance is not quite the right word … an acceptance of cyclists as equal road partners. In fact let’s call it a reverence for cyclists. This reverence extends both to solo cyclists and groups on a club run. It takes a while to get used to a hoot on the horn which here in France is friendly warning that they are approaching and not a sonic version of an expletive. Compared to my memory of drivers I have experienced whilst ridding in England, French drivers are saints. In the last year before moving to France, my English cycling experience was littered not just with poor driving in relation to cycle awareness, but more worryingly deliberate road abuse. This ranged from the usual incidents such as cars coming out of junctions having misjudged my speed and cutting in too close when overtaking. More worryingly, I often experienced car occupants who clearly wanted to draw alongside in order to voice their dislike of lycra and people who wear it. On one memorable day two young lads driving a pony and trap drove it straight at me on a single track rural road. I have the pony to thank for realising that this was wrong! The lads shouted out at me “Sorry mate. Didn’t see yer.” I wish I had had the presence of mind to shout back “You should have gone to Spec-Savers”. Ten minutes later on a more main road “white van man” raced up behind me, hooted, roared his engine for a few seconds, passed me with inches to spare, slammed on his brakes right in front of me and then put the van into reverse leaving me nowhere to go other than to swing into the middle of the road. His accompanying comments are not printable. Extreme examples? I wish they were. So the moral of the story is that Wiggo and friends should train in France. It’s far safer.
Mike Holmes
November 09 11:20
Get well soon and back in the saddle Brad you are a great representative for the cycling community. Motorists who claim their ownership of the road because they pay road tax are decades out of date, you pay a vehicle excise duty for the privilege of owning a car, nothing to do with the road. Very best wishes to you and your family.
eddie
November 09 18:03
I passed my driving test many years ago and the highway code stated that when overtaking vehicles or cyclists to indicate in good time, does this still stand today because the standard of driving I see on a daily basis makes me wonder,it's very rare that you see anyone indicate these days.Too busy on their phones I suppose get well soon Wiggo and Shane Sutton
James Lepper
November 10 17:43
Having recently got back on a bike after 29 years of not riding a bike partly because I did a charity ride this year and prtly because a new job saw me working in Cambrdge which sort of made me think a bike ride now and then would not be so bad. The standard of bike riding has fallen dramatically from when I was seventeen. We recognised then as I still do that a bicycle is a road vehicle and must obey the same rules of the road. If you really think going inside a car turning left is a good idea then good luck, the same goes for traffic lights obey them. If you need to go on the pavement then don't be idle get off and walk. We need to set an example, and we need to ride defensively more so when it is dark with our lights not much brighter than a torch our visibility is low both from the point of view of other riders, drivers and from our point of view of seeing hazards. In Cambridge there ought to be a charity to buy lights for the 10% of cyclists and 1% of motorists who think they are a waste of money!! From a slightly bemused re-energised cyclist.
Ken Downing
November 11 16:00
All the posts are very interesting,and i agree with most. I wish a full recovery to Brad and Shane ASAP