An Irish club cyclist has passed away after suffering a likely heart attack during Tour of Flanders sportive on 2nd April, Saturday.

Fifty six year old Pat Coyle fell ill and then collapsed when climbing up Oude Kwaremont, twenty-five kilometres from sportive’s finished in Oudenaarde.

Medics offered immediate help to this popular well-known Irish cyclist, who is believed to have been riding with his son, but they were not able to save his life. It was the Shannonside CC rider’s fourteenth ride in the yearly sportive that attracted sixteen hundred riders this year for what was the sportive’s twenty-fifth anniversary.

In a statement released a statement, in which it said that “Cycling Ireland would like to extend their condolences to the family of Pat Coyle of Shannonside CC, Athlone, who died at the Tour of Flanders Sportive in Belgium yesterday following a heart attack. The tragedy occurred during the 227km event that attracts 16,000 riders, and is in its 25th year, an event in which he had participated many times.”

It further added that Mr Coyle had been a very active member of the Shannonside Cycling Club, who was mainly committed to the club’s development, having been an important organizer in events like Operation Transformation cycle in Athlone in 2015.