Tributes have been paid to a man from Scotland who died on Tuesday following a collision with a lorry on Mallorca, which hed was visiting with his cycling club.
Father-of-two Graeme McGilvray, aged 49 and from Helensburgh in Argyll & Bute, was on an annual trip to the Mediterranean island with the Lomond Roads Cycling Club, reports the Daily Record.
The fatal crash, which is being investigated by the Spanish authorities, took place at about 4pm on a roundabout between Alcudia and Puerto Alcudia.
Gordon Dick, another member of the group, paid tribute to Mr McGilvray as he told the Daily Record about the circumstances leading up to the incident.
“Graeme was a smashing big guy and an experienced cyclist, it’s been a really tragic turn of events,” he said. “We go to Mallorca every year and there is a big group of us over here.
“We have only been about five miles from the hotel on our first big run and Graeme had been a little bit tired and fallen off the back of the main bunch.
“From speaking to the police it looks like he has come down onto the roundabout and been hit by a truck. He hasn’t had a chance.”
He continued: “It is quite a difficult spot on the road, there is a few lanes, it looks like it has just been a tragic accident.
“From what we have been told it may be that he has perhaps looked the wrong way when coming onto the roundabout.
“We have been in contact with his family and the authorities over here, so we have done everything we can now.”
Mr McGilvray leaves behind his wife, Jackie, and two teenage children, and Mr Dick added: “Everyone at the club, and the whole of the cycling community, is thinking of Graeme’s family now.”
Tributes paid on the club’s message board include one which reads: “Really horrible news. My heart goes out to his family and all you guys out there who were with him. Graeme was a true gentleman and I'm sure will be sadly missed.”
Another member posted: “When I think of Graeme I think of the great sense of humour and the laughs we had. What a good friend and such a sad loss my heart goes out to his family.”
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.