Hit-and-run driver puts cycle champ in hospital
Christina, 45, suffers broken pelvis
A CYCLING champion has been left in hospital with a broken pelvis after being knocked from her bike in a hit-and-run crash.
World record holder Christina Mackenzie was struck by a large vehicle towing a farming trailer on the busy B822 in Stirlingshire, on Tuesday.
Christina, a member of Stirling Bike Club, was out on a training ride in preparation for two big races this weekend, the women’s veterans national championships and Tour of the Trossachs.
The 45-year-old, who moved to Stirling from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in 2016, is understood to have been approaching the Kippen roundabout from the Stirling direction.
An eyewitness revealed that Christina had put out her arm to turn right and moved to the right-hand side of the carriageway.
A vehicle, believed to have been an SUV type car, came up her inside, colliding with her before the trailer it was towing also hit her, knocking her on to the ground.
As Christina lay by the roadside in agony, with what was later diagnosed in hospital as a broken pelvis, the driver of the car sped away, failing to stop to check on the stricken rider and exchange details.
Christina remains in hospital where she is set to go under the knife.
A friend, who had been on the training ride with her, said: “The following motorists and a bus driver stopped and rendered excellent assistance before the emergency services arrived.”
In a Facebook post, they said: “She’s currently in hospital having sustained a broken pelvis, among other injuries. The driver of the vehicle had attempted to undertake her with the vehicle initially striking her before the trailer wiped her out completely.”
Christina holds the LEJOG and NC500 world records and is the national 12-hour time trial holder.
She made history last July when she completed the 839-mile cross-country journey from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in 51 hours, five minutes and 27 seconds.
The Cambusbarron cyclist then became the fastest woman in history to cycle the scenic North Coast 500 route.
Driver of the vehicle had tried to undertake Christina FELLOW CYCLIST WHO WAS ON TRAINING RIDE