Follow up regarding incident with horse rider and cyclists at the Royal Windsor Triathlon

Since the recent incident at the Royal Windsor Triathlon on 17 June, we have been going through our internal review process and liaising with other stakeholders including the police, who are investigating the matter further.

We believe we have identified two individuals at fault, but we won’t be revealing further details or sharing their identities, as this is a police matter. One cyclist will receive a lifetime ban from all Human Race events, a 2^nd (who did come forward after the incident) will receive a 12 month ban from all of our events. As the investigations are still ongoing this is pending any further information or mitigating circumstances that may come to light in the future. We are liaising with British Triathlon, who will be responsible for taking their own actions.

As a result of our internal review, we will implement the following actions as an organisation:

• We will improve our signage for the Royal Windsor Triathlon, to ensure all road users are aware of the event. We are holding a review of the event with the local SAG (Safety Advisory Group, which includes the council and police amongst others) on signage. This will include a thorough review of advance warning signage and on-the-day event signage. The end result will be additional signage along the course.
• We will improve communication to the horse riding community in the area, through direct contact with stables, polo clubs, etc. This will provide advance warning of the event to this group. We take responsibility to make sure this is as thorough as possible.
• We will improve education to our participants and the wider cycling and triathlon community about the Highway Code and the likelihood of horses (or other users) being on the road. This will be over and above ensuring competitors are aware the Highway Code is to be abided by in our pre-event communications and pre-race briefings. Moving forward we will implement the following:
  • For all our participants we will specifically communicate the details of the Highway Code that are relevant, to ensure triathletes are informed of what to do and how to keep everyone safe in a similar situation.
  • We will also be creating an educational advertising plan to our wider audience in the cycling and triathlon community, about how best to deal with any similar situation they may find themselves in.

We take this incident very seriously and are committed to improving our processes.

We believe this mishap is a poor representation of the triathlon community. The vast majority of triathletes and cyclists do follow the rules and ride with due care towards others.

KEY QUESTIONS

1. Why can you organise a Triathlon on open roads?

We follow best practice as per guidelines from British Triathlon. Throughout the planning process we liaise with the local council’s highways department and with the relevant Safety Advisory Groups (SAG) about the event and its routes. The bike course takes place on open roads so individual participants are required to always ride within the rules of the Highway Code, and act with due care and to ensure their own safety as well as that of all others also using the road.

2. Were there warning signs about the event taking place for road users?

Yes, there were signs up at all major junctions from 7 June, following consultation with a professional traffic management company. In addition, further cycle event warning signage was put in place at key locations across the course the day before the event. We understand in this case that the individual affected was not aware of the event taking part despite this. Every year we review signage and as a result of this incident we will be implementing increased signage along the course.

3. Was the incident something to do with the last-minute route change?

No, there was a late change required to the Olympic length course due to road works, however the route change meant that the participants used a road that was already signposted from 7 June for our sprint distance event.

4. Are the riders being prosecuted/reported to the police?

This incident is under investigation from the police, Human Race is in correspondence with the police and supplying them with any information they request from us. Human Race will be keeping additional information confidential as is our responsibility.

5. What will you be doing to educate cyclists about horse riders?

We currently inform all our participants before the race that they need to adhere to the Highway Code in our event communication. We repeat this on event day in our briefings to each wave. We will improve education to our participants and the wider cycling and triathlon community about the Highway Code and the likelihood of horses (or other users) being on the road. Moving forward we will implement the following:

• For all participants we will specifically communicate the details of the Highway Code that are relevant to ensure riders are informed of what to do and how to keep everyone safe in a similar situation.
• We will also be creating an educational communication plan to our wider audience in the cycling and triathlon community about how best to deal with any similar situation they may find themselves in.