A PONTYPOOL cyclist says he’s lucky to be alive, after being knocked down in a hit and run at a busy roundabout.

Martin Pope, 44, from Griffithstown, was out getting some miles in preparing for an 85 mile cycle with his brother to raise money for Alzheimer’s trust, when he was hit by a car at the busy Hardwick roundabout near Abergavenny.

Mr Pope was left stricken in the middle lane of the road, and later found out he had a broken collarbone, after he was “wiped out by a dark car” which sped off.

Mr Pope, said: "When I came to there was a lady there in her car who said to me, ‘you are very lucky not to be in a worse state'."

Mr Pope left Abergavenny on Wednesday June 20 at around 1pm cycling towards Raglan.

He was in the middle lane of the roundabout making his way round towards the A40 turn-off for Raglan when a car, which had entered the roundabout from the A465 slip road behind him, came across him from left to right, whipping the bike from under him, before driving off.

Mr Pope, who is an experienced cyclist having tackled a number of the London to Brighton charity rides, said: "It was like a knife through butter, the car went straight through me.

"I came down directly on my left shoulder, and I was stuck in the road because my feet were still attached to the bike in my cleats.

"I just tried to get out of the road as quickly as possible because it was pretty busy. When I got to the side I started to feel sick straight away and was in a lot of pain. Because I’m a bloke I was trying not to cry but it was agony.

The more I think about it, the more relieved I am that relatively I am all in one piece."

Mr Pope can no longer take on his charity cycle on July 29 and he and Gwent Police are now appealing for anybody who might have seen the incident to contact the police.