Cyclist opts to run final stretch after bike issues in RideLondon event

A London cyclist, who joined more than 20,000 others on Sunday’s 100-mile RideLondon event, refused to quit when his bike broke.

Mottingham’s Mark Hayes, a member of the Greenwich Tritons triathlon club, ran the final stretch pushing his bike to finish in six hours, 35 minutes and 53 seconds.

More than 30 Tritons rode the course that started in Westminster and finished on Tower Bridge.

Hayes said: “After 90 miles my chain started slipping and a few miles later the bike became unrideable. Cheered on by other riders and the spectators I got my head down and ran the final few miles with my bike.”

Hayes is training for his first Ironman, taking place in Portugal in October, which will see him run a marathon after 112 miles on the bike.

“It was not what I had wanted or planned – but nothing was going to stop me making it to the finish line at Tower Bridge,” he said.

PICTURE: NICK LINFORD