Michelle Gahan, the female cyclist involved in a dramatic collision with MTN Microsoft's pro rider Daniel Spence at the Ride for Sight, was invited to the team's official launch at the MTN headquarters in Johannesburg. The crash occurred when Spence and his teammates, Malcolm Lange and Nic White, charging into the final few kilometres in a three-man break, turned a corner 4 km from the finish of the main 116km race only to find themselves facing a bunch of cyclists just starting out on the 58 km event. Spence -- all 58 kilograms of him -- collided with Gahan, an incident that was caught by a TV camera, and which sparked a buzz in the cycling community after it was aired on SuperCycling on Tuesday night. At the team launch on Thursday Spence and Gahan traded apologies, but ultimately neither was at fault. The race organisers hadn?t anticipated such a fast finishing time for the pros and as a result had an overlap of riders at the corner just before the two race routes split. Spence was concerned about Gahan?s injuries, but she said they were minor and that she?d finished her race. ?It all happened so fast,? said Gahan. ?I saw a rider coming towards me ? fast ? from behind some cars and tried to move over but we still collided.? Spence, still sporting a bruised knee from the incident, was just as surpised: ?It was all so confusing because there was a back-up of traffic at that intersection and the next thing I knew we had to turn right,? he recalled. ?I was so concerned about getting back into the race and not losing any time that I just rode off when I got my punctured wheel replaced. I?m glad I was able to meet Michelle and apologise properly today.? Spence, who rejoined his teammates after the collision and finished second in the race, said that he was fine and was training hard for the upcoming international South African tours, the Giro del Capo and Tour of Maloti where he will be one of the leading local contenders for overall victory. PHOTO CAPTION: MTN Microsoft professional team member, Daniel Spence, with the woman he ?met by accident?, Michelle Gahan, at the official team launch in Johannesburg on Thursday.
