Cycling injury abroad

Lordofknutsford

I'm booked in on a sponsored tour around France. 300 miles in 3 days. The thing is I'm carrying a knee injury I've been undergoing treatment for. I can't back out without all sorts of problems. The easiest thing is to go.
If I was unable to carry on, would an insurance policy cover taxi to port and transport home? Would I need to seek medical treatment in France to qualify a claim? Anyone know of good insurance cover for me and my bike. Bike value is 6k. I can google but was hoping someone had experience.

sheffsimon

I would guess if it's a pre existing injury then any insurance cover would be invalidated...

whoof

When considering insurance be sure to check if cycling is classed as something you might do whilst you are on holiday i.e. hire a bike for the day or the purpose of the trip, training or touring. Insurers consider these activities differently. No insurer will cover you for a pre-existing ailment.
I have used Flexicover.co.uk in the past for touring. However the cover was only medical etc it did not cover the bike. Speak to your household insurers about bike cover as they might be able to add it.

mea00csf

Insurance companies can sometimes cover you for existing conditions, however, as you'll need to disclose it and that you're cycling, you may struggle to find any that will cover you as they will likely pick up that you're planning on doing something that will aggravate the existing condition.

You may well struggle to find a company to insure a £6k bike though, even if you do manage to, it could well be a case of dependent on the age of it, you'll only get a certain % of the bike value. Also you'll need to check the conditions of when it is insured (eg when we go on holiday the bike is only insured when it is either in our possession or locked in room, it is not covered while flying and when it's making it's way round baggage, this would have to be covered by the airline, who certainly won't cover £6k!). I'd suggest renting a bike in France would be way more straight forward.

If it's an organised sponsored ride, they may well have a sag wagon or someone who transports luggage. If you had problems you could continue the tour with them being driven to the next stop, rather than going home straight away, might be worth looking into. Take as much pain medication as you can and just accept you might have to be driven some of the way. While everyone's riding you may well have time to go to the local doctors for help if it's really bad.

Mikey23

E111 is all I travel with these days. France isn't a third world country and I suspect if their was a problem you would be able to blag your way out of it quite easily

marcusjb

(pedant alert)

E111 was phased out best part of a decade ago - so make sure you are carrying an EHIC card these days. These also expire (5 years), so make sure it's kosher for the trip.

Mikey23

Oh yes, that's what I meant... Sorry!