A 56-year-old woman has died during a coast-to-coast cycle ride.

Police were called to a report of an injured cyclist on Wrynose Pass near Little Langdale in the Lake District, Cumbria, at 9am on Saturday. She was pronounced dead a short time later.

The cyclist has been formally identified as Katherine Moore from the London area. Her family have been informed. Nobody else was involved, said police.

The incident took place during the Coast to Coast in a Day event, a 150-mile route starting in Seascale in Cumbria and finishing in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

In a statement on its website, the event organiser, Open Cycling, said: “With great sadness, we can confirm that a female adult participant taking part in the Coast to Coast in a Day sportive was involved in a fatal accident on a downhill section in the early stages of the event.

“The road was closed to all other traffic and there was no other vehicle or cyclist involved in this incident. Despite first aiders being on the scene within five minutes and the rapid attendance of both road and air ambulance, tragically her injuries were too serious to be able to save her.

“We are deeply saddened by this and our thoughts are with her family and friends. No issue has a greater priority for us than the safety of our participants, which is why we are fully committed to understand how this happened so we can help prevent anything similar from happening again.

“We are very grateful to the emergency services for their swift response and we will continue to liaise with them and the cyclist’s family to support them in any helpful way we can.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident should call Cumbria police on 101 and ask to speak to PC 2526 Hesketh from the mobile support group.