Kenyan rider John Njoroge Muya dies in collision at Tour of Matabungkay in Philippines

Kenyan rider succumbs to car injuries in Philippines

National champion and 2012 Tour de Rwanda bronze medalist John Njoroge Muya has passed on.

Njoroge  who represented the country in this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, was killed while on duty for the country in the Philippines on Saturday.

He was killed in Luzon, following a head-on collision with a car at the ongoing Tour of Matabungkay Championship.

His death was declared by head coach Rob Higley and Tintin Leblanc Magno, a physician at Cavite Hospital in Luzon where he was rushed by a standby ambulance for treatment.

A statement posted on Monday afternoon on the Kenyan Riders facebook page read: “It is with the greatest sorrow that we must inform you of the passing on of John Njoroge Muya. Njoroge was transported to the nearest hospital but his injuries were beyond saving.”

Earlier that morning before he passed on, Njoroge was presented with his first yellow jersey after winning individual time trial and finishing with the lead group in the competitive road race.

Njoroge was leading at the Tour of Matabungkay stage two after clocking 3:11.32. He was followed by Fred Clatworthy (3:11.46) riding for Team DirectAsia.com.

Njoroge’s team mate Ayub Kathurima was third in 3:13.01.

Kathurima was followed by Ben Arnott of Specialised Mavericks Team in 3:13.46 while Suleiman Kangani wrapped up the top five in 3:14.30.

Following Njoroge’s death, Kathurima was moved from third to retain the yellow jersey for the Kenyan Riders, who were unaware of the nature of the accident.

Njoroge leaves a wife and a baby boy. Njoroge’s family in Kenya was notified first, in the traditionally accepted way, by Zakayo, the first captain of Kenyan Riders.

Kenyan Riders patron Nicholas Leong will remain in the Philippines to facilitate the transportation of Njoroge’s body to his family in Kenya.

News of Njoroge’s death was broken to the rest of the Kenyan Riders members at home who were taking part in the Tour de Machakos under national team head coach Simon Blake.

Kenya’s cycling ace David Kinjah who emerged third at the Tour of Machakos, eulogised Njoroge saying the country has lost a comrade who will be hard to replace.

“I have lost a friend. My memorable moment with him this year was being able to hatch a plan that saw us both qualify to represent Kenya at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland. We still had a lot of local and international championships to grace apart from the many plans to help the country rebuild its athletics prowess. We will miss him,” he said.

The cycling fraternity pledged to help Njoroge’s family rebuild their lives.


 

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