Tauranga Half athlete Shane Lye breaks bones in pile-up, hails competitor who stopped to help

Shane Lye, 57, suffered a broken clavicle, pelvis and seven ribs after a bike crash in the Tauranga Half. Photo / George Novak

A top Tauranga multisport athlete badly injured in a mid-race cyclist pile-up has hailed the sportsmanship of a doctor who abandoned her own race to help him.

Shane Lye, 57, faces surgery and months of recovery after breaking multiple bones including his pelvis in a high-speed crash during the cycling leg of the Tauranga Half race on Saturday.

Shane Lye, 57, suffered a broken clavicle, pelvis and seven ribs after a bike crash in the Tauranga Half. Photo / George Novak

Lye said it was his 31st time competing in the gruelling 2km swim, 90km bike and 21km run event.

"I've done it since the inaugural event... Training had gone really well. I was probably the best prepared I've been for a while."

A new cycling route took competitors on to a temporarily closed portion of the Tauranga Eastern Link on State Highway 2.

Lye said a competitor riding in front of him on the highway appeared to hit a road cone.

"His bike flew into the air and right into my path," he said. "About five or six of us ended up going down. At 45km an hour, there was nowhere else to go. It all happened so quickly."

The crash spread across the motorway lanes, Lye said.

"I think as soon as I hit the road I tried to get up. That's your natural reaction.

"But the pain was so severe I knew I'd done some damage. It was just agony... waiting for an ambulance."

Lye suffered a broken pelvis in two places, a broken clavicle in three places and seven broken ribs, plus numerous lacerations to his body.

"But I'm alive and that's the main thing," he said.

"These things happen. It's not the first time I've broken bones but this will be the worst."

Yesterday, Lye was in Tauranga Hospital awaiting surgery. He will spend the next few months in recovery.

Shane Lye, 57, faces months of recovery. Photo / George Novak

"I was doing the Ironman in four weeks but I guess that won't be happening."

His brother, who was racing behind him, was also caught in the incident.

"He broke his bike and had lacerations all down his left side."

Lye said he was thankful for local doctor, and fellow competitor, Zoe Cruse who stopped and waited with him until the ambulance arrived.

"It's critical of sportsmanship to stop for another athlete," he said. "I didn't have any pain killers. But she was a pain killer herself just by being there.

"She's now helped me finish my 31st event."

Lye is well-known in the Tauranga sports scene as a trustee in the Mount
Festival Charitable Trust who has represented New Zealand in the half ironman.

He was completing this year's Tauranga Half for his late friend Tony O'Hagan, who passed away suddenly in mid-2020.

"The plan was to do it for Tony. I didn't mean to crash for him."

Cruse initially entered the longer Enduro race in the Mount Festival of Multisport but switched to the Tauranga Half the day before.

"I'd had a really bad week. I felt sick. So I changed my entry," the 32-year-old said.

Her goal was just to finish the race.

Tauranga doctor Zoe Cruse stopped mid-race to help out a fellow competitor. Photo / Photos4sale

About 35 minutes into the 90km bike ride she came across a scene that made her stop.

"I was just about to finish my first lap when I saw a guy lying on his back looking like he was in quite a lot of pain.

"I was going quite fast and did a double-take and stopped, turned around and went back."

It was Lye. "He was conscious but in a lot of pain."

A race medic had been attending to Lye but Cruse, urgent care physician at 2nd Avenue Health Centre, knew two helpers were better than one due to the seriousness of his injuries.

"In situations like that, it's reassuring to someone."

Cruse stayed with Lye for about an hour on the side of the road before he told her to continue her race.

"It would have been really easy to not finish, your adrenaline's gone and I hadn't eaten in over an hour," she said.

"But I promised him I would finish it for the both of us."

Cruse said the rest of the race was "quite hard" but she had Lye in the back of her mind until she crossed the finish line. Her final time was about 6.5 or 7 hours but she was still glad she had stopped.

"I didn't feel obliged to stop, I stopped because I wanted to. It doesn't bother me that it took me a bit longer to finish."

Mount Festival general manager Lauren Watson said she was "shocked" when she heard Lye had been in a crash.

"The moment I was given the race number I was shocked. It was unbelievable," she said.

"Our heart went out to him straight away."

Watson said Lye was one of only two people who had completed the race 30 times.

"He's one of the great advocates of the race, a very well known athlete and a great guy. He is a valued board member for us. We wish him a speedy recovery."