Cyclist dies during London to Brighton charity ride

A cyclist taking part in Sunday’s London to Brighton charity ride has tragically died, organisers the British Heart Foundation have confirmed.

The rider died in the Smallfield area of Surrey, which lies about halfway on the annual event’s 54-mile route, the BBC reports.

“Our deepest sympathies are with the rider’s loved ones,” Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF, said in a statement. Griffiths added that the next of kin had been informed and that an investigation into the death is currently under way.

The circumstances surrounding the tragic incident have not yet been revealed, but Surrey Police has launched an appeal for witnesses "to help our investigation into the circumstances of this incident".

"If you have any information which could help, please contact us quoting PR/45230067249," the force told riders and spectators

> Cyclist dies after crashing on Wrynose Pass descent during Coast To Coast In A Day sportive

Today’s London to Brighton ride marks the event’s second edition since it returned from a two-year Covid-induced hiatus in 2022, when over 14,000 cyclists took part to raise money for the British Heart Foundation’s research into preventing, diagnosing, and curing heart and circulatory diseases.

London to Brighton riders have raised more than £70 million for the charity in the event’s 45-year history.

> Death of student on charity bike ride leads to calls for better warning signs

The awful news announced by the BHF today comes just two years after a university student, who was taking part in his own charity ride from London to the south coast, was killed after being hit by the driver of a tipper truck.

20-year-old Pathushan Sutharsan, an architecture student at the University of Brighton who was cycling to raise funds for people affected by the way in Yemen, crashed into the path of the lorry during the ride after trying to brake on a steep section of gravel track.

In 2019, a female cyclist died following a crash on the descent of the Wrynose Pass in the Lake District during the Coast To Coast In A Day ride, just two months after another rider died in similar circumstances at the Vélo Birmingham & Midlands closed road sportive.