Joe Skipper’s bike may have met its maker earlier this week, but thankfully the British star was “somehow able to walk away” after being hit by a van while out training.

The 33-year-old British star, who has enjoyed an excellent 2021 punctuated by IRONMAN victories in Bolton and Chattanooga, took to Instagram in the aftermath of the the terrifying incident to provide yet another stark warning of the ever-present dangers faced by cyclists.

Joe Skipper lucky to walk away

He recounted: “Rest in peace bike!

“On Wednesday while out training I was hit by a van at about 30mph(50kph). It shot through a junction and collided with me, luckily hitting into the chain stay and just missing my legs.

“I was very lucky as I landed on a grass verge which must have cushioned my landing as I was somehow able to walk away from it.”

The end result was a destroyed bike, but for Skipper the first thought afterwards was relief that he didn’t suffer serious injury.

“The bike’s a complete write-off, normally after a crash you worry about your bike and the first thing you think of is, is my bike ok!?,” he said.

“After this crash I wasn’t even worried that my bike was written off as I knew I was extremely lucky to be able to walk away from this.

Another warning for cyclists

“Had the point of collision been 20cm different it could have been a very different story and I may have sustained a career-ending injury.”

Joe ended his message by using the incident to warn cyclists that this sort of incident can happen anywhere, at any time.

“This crash happened in the middle of nowhere so be careful out there everyone and sometimes when you least expect a crash to happen it’s when it can occur.”