Beaumont bus in rear end shunt

Mark Beaumont’s motorhome was involved in a car accident in Australia just after the halfway mark of his epic 80-day bid to pedal round the globe.

On Wednesday, Day 39 of his 18,000-mile World Cycle attempt, a car hit Mark’s support van from behind and both vehicles were damaged beyond repair.

The dramatic prang happened near Melbourne on the second leg of his global challenge. Despite Mark so far busting a tooth and his arm in Russia and shearing through the metal of his bike pedal earlier in the week, he is close to being on schedule to set a new world record.

At the time of Wednesday’s daylight setback, the adventurer was riding his bike, but was not on the road itself.

By pure luck, Beaumont was about five metres away on the highway hard shoulder, and was unhurt.

Shocked team members in the motorhome suffered a serious jolt, but were just bruised and shocked.

Mark’s battle bus was totalled and the car involved ruined.

Members of Mark’s team helped the female driver and her one-year-old baby, who also escaped serious injury.

A new motor home for Mark had to be hired and kit moved across.

The rear end shunt led to a two-hour hold up and Mark riding 50 miles less than anticipated on that day, costing him any advantage he had built up over the cycle across Australia.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said Mark. “It made me pause and think.”