A 54-year old cyclist from Massachusetts died after a collision with a pickup truck Saturday morning in Caledonia County, according to the Vermont State Police.
Authorities are investigating the accident, which took place around 9:20 a.m. near the intersection of Brook Road and Carter Road in the town of Burke, Vermont State Police said in a press release Saturday night.
Richard Wanstall of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was participating in a bike race at the time of the fatal crash. An initial investigation found that he had been traveling south on Brook Road but entered the northbound side of the road. Wanstall then collided with a 2007 Dodge truck that was driving north on the road, according to the release.
Wanstall had been participating in the 100-kilometer category of the Rasputitsa gravel bike race, an annual event in the Northeast Kingdom that draws participants from around the world, Seven Days reported.
A post Saturday on the Rasputitsa Dirt’s Facebook page read: “We are deeply saddened by the news that one of our community members died today, after colliding with a vehicle while on course.”
Wanstall was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The driver of the truck, 27-year-old Alex Goss of East Haven, was unhurt and the truck sustained minor damage, the release stated.
Speed or impairment are not factors in the accident, according to initial findings in the ongoing investigation, police said in the release.
Last August, Kenyan cyclist Suleiman ‘Sule’ Kangangi died in another well-known bike race — the 59-mile Vermont Overland — while riding down Long Hill Road in South Woodstock.
