Rider Mark Beaumont and his crew have escaped serious injury after a car ploughed into the motorhome supporting his world cycle challenge.
The Perthshire rider who is attempting to circumnavigate the world in 80 days described the accident as one of the most difficult days on his Artemis World Cycle challenge.
The 34-year-old Dundee University rector confirmed neither he nor any of his support team were badly injured “although a few of the team have matching head bumps”.
The woman and one year old child travelling in the car also involved in the horror smash on the outskirts of Melbourne both escaped serious injury.
But taking to social media, he said: “It could have been lot, lot worse.”
The adventurer was cycling along the hard shoulder of the highway on day 39 when the camper van was rear ended by the car.
The incident made him “pause and think”.
“It’s getting busier as we approach Melbourne.
“But it was a quiet section of highway.
“The visibility was fantastic, we had our hazards on.”
He revealed the police had passed by only minutes before and had been happy with what the team was doing.
“If I had been on the road rather than the hard shoulder…you know…game over.”
It’s estimated the collision cost him about 50 miles of the day’s target as the support vehicle was “totalled” and the team organised a replacement.
“It was very serious, but it could have been a lot, lot worse, and the team did brilliantly.”
Mark is now halfway around the world in the challenge which started in Paris in early July.
He has been in the saddle for 16 hours a day as he attempts to beat the world record.
The route has been broken down into four segments, from Paris to Beijing, across Australia and New Zealand, from Alaska to Nova Scotia, and from Lisbon back to Paris.
