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Mystery over death of British cyclist on French Riviera

Helmeted man found by fishermen in Mediterranean

A British cyclist in his 50s has been found dead in the sea off the French Riviera at Èze near Nice, according to reports.

The unnamed man from Liverpool was wearing sports kit and a helmet when his body was discovered by fishermen on Saturday, March 28, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The area is hugely popular with cyclists and includes a tall hill that rises above the Mediterranean, with the village of Èze on its peak.

"His bike was found nearby, but the reason for his death remains a mystery,"  a source from the local prosecutors’ office told Mail Online.

A preliminary investigation has been opened, with judicial police interviewing the fishermen and searching for evidence.

No theory for the cause of death has yet been ruled out. Possibilities range from a cycling accident to murder and suicide.

An autopsy will be carried out this week.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We’re looking into reports that a British national has died in France. We stand ready to provide consular assistance.”

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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2 comments

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goggy | 8 years ago
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I know the area. Two roads - one at the coast and one higher up closer to the historical village. Neither road springs to mind as a cycling accident, especially one that would land him in the sea.

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ChrisB200SX | 8 years ago
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"was wearing sports kit and a helmet when his body was discovered"
I think we can rule out suicide then?

Sad for his friends and family, I hope the authorities get to the bottom of it.

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