Heroic Halesowen cyclist is now king of the mountains

A determined cyclist from Halesowen, who was run over by a van in October 2013, has completed two of the world's toughest cycling races.

Richard Evans, who suffered a dislocated arm, several fractures and nerve damage in his shoulder as well as five broken ribs in the incident, has completed two thirds of the gruelling Haute Route.

The 58-year-old was left unable to cycle for 10 months but has battled his way back to fitness and has now completed the Haute Route Alps, an 855-kilometre trek across the French mountains from Nice to Geneva, Switzerland, followed by the Haute Route Dolomites and Swiss Alps, a 906km seven-day ride across the iconic peaks between Geneva and the race finish in Venice, Italy.

Having completed the Haute Route Alps back in 2013, Evans had been hoping to ride that stage again as well as the Dolomites section – tackling both is known as the Iron Challenge – the following year.

Those plans were left in ruins when he had his accident, which happened on the A49 just north of Ludlow at Bromfield, on the junction with the B4365 through Ludlow Racecourse.

But he remained determined to achieve the feat and after completing the challenge he said: "Completing the Alps and the Dolomites Swiss Alps was a major goal for me.

"I signed up to take part in the 2014 editions at the end of September 2013, having just completed the Haute Route Alps 2013, but was hit and run over by a van three weeks later.

"I was unable to ride for over 10 months and it has taken another year of training to be able to take to the start line in Nice in 2015.

"I started riding again in July 2014 and by October I had got back to the point where I could sometimes do longer rides of about 60-70 miles.

"When I could do that I thought there was a chance I would be able to do the Haute Route."

The Haute Route, which consists of three sections, is considered to be one of the world's highest and toughest cycling challenges.

It attracts more than 1,500 amateur riders from all corners of the planet each year and riders to tackle the Alps, the Dolomites and Swiss Alps and the Pyreenes mountain ranges.

Completing all three is known as the 'triple crown' and the challenge is billed as the 'Tour de France' for amateur cyclists.

For many people, the thought of attempting any one of these stages would be a source of anxiety.

But Evans, who works as an electronics design consultant and runs his own company, said that the prospect of getting back on the bike to continue that challenge had been a source of inspiration during his long road to recovery.

He said; "I survived the back-to-back 'Iron' challenge (two weeks of cycling through the Alps and Dolomites) which has been my recovery focus since the accident.

"Though I am still having issues this has been a milestone on the way back to fitness.

"The relief of completing the first week of the challenge, in particular, was particularly great because when I started I was in no way sure that I was going to be able to complete it this time. It was an unknown quantity from two years ago."

Having successfully completed his latest challenge he is in no hurry to plan his next adventure.

But he said: "I will be 60 in 2017 and there is a little niggling voice saying 'do all three', but that might just be complete madness."