Tributes paid to cyclist killed during last Sunday's Glasgow Ivy 100 in 8 ride

Tributes have been paid to a Scottish cyclist who was killed last weekend in Perthshire while taking part in the annual 100 in 8 event organised by Glasgow Ivy CC. John Yates, aged 50, a member of Glasgow Nightingale CC, suffered head injuries following a crash as he rode with a group of 20 riders. Despite the efforts of a doctor riding in that group to save him, he died while being airlifted to hospital.

His 17-year-old son Kyle, who is a former Under-16 national endurance champion, described how he was at work when he learnt of his father’s accident, reports the Stirling Observer.

“We got on perfectly,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better from a father.

“I’ll mainly remember how much we both enjoyed cycling. He was so proud when I was champion. He loved it when I competed outside the UK, in places like Belgium.

“He was always supportive, and was just as supportive when I decided recently I wanted to give cycling up to focus on my career.

“He was always good on his bike, it had been his passion for years. He was one of the best and he’d never crashed before.

“We don’t have a clue exactly what happened in the crash. People think there was maybe a coming together of two bikes.

“All I know is that I got a call at work to say there’d been a crash, and got to the hospital. He was unconscious by then though.”

Kyle added that everything had been “a blur” since last Sunday and said that he was attempting to “keep it together” to provide support to his mother Sally and brother Ross.

The forum of the Glasgow Nightingale CC website has a thread in which fellow club members have left tributes, with one describing him as “a great bloke who will be sadly missed.”

A spokesperson for Tayside Police confirmed that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding John’s death, and that in accordance with standard procedure in cases of sudden death, a report had been sent to the Procurator Fisca, adds the Stirling Observerl.