Witnesses to the crash have told smh.com.au the group of up to 60 professional cyclists were riding south on Southern Cross Drive, just south of Dacey Avenue, Mascot about 6.30am when a driver, agitated with being held up, accelerated in front of the pack and then slammed on his brakes, giving the riders no time to stop. Olympic preparations derailed

Kersten, speaking from a chiropractor's surgery where he was having his injuries assessed, said he feared his preparation for the Beijing Olympics could be derailed by the incident. "I did hurt myself, I'm not broken or anything, but I am going to need a few days' recovery," he said. "I'm having trouble bending my arm, my hip's all flared up. I rolled my ankle so it's not something you just walk straight through, but a lot of other people looked a lot worse than me. It's just a disgrace, an absolute disgrace.

"I have an Olympic trial in two-and-a half weeks for the last remaining spot [on the team] so it's not very good timing at all. "I've got to get a new bike now, I've got to worry about my injuries, I'm supposed to be at training now but I'm at the chiropractor. Every day counts. This is not what you need."

Kersten said motorists needed to learn to share the road with cyclists. "This is our training ground. We can't ride round and round a football stadium at 60kmh. The law states we are allowed on the road. A brutal death match on the road is not going to solve anything," he said. "We're so lucky somebody isn't dead, we were pushing 60kmh, sprawled all over the road with trucks going past. I really don't know how someone isn't dead, that's all I can say."

Kersten said any person found guilty of driving offences related to the crash should have to pay compensation to the riders whose equipment was damaged. "My bike suffered a fair bit of damage, it's carbon and it's got a crack in it and the wheels are written off," he said.

"It's probably about $12,000 worth [of damage] but I am lucky enough to be sponsored by a [cycling manufacturer], so they will be able to do something, but there are 50 other bikes in the bunch that are not sponsored. "I definitely think [the driver] should [pay compensation]. I think there was probably close to $50,000 worth of bike damage done. "But I just want to see him go to jail, I don't give a hoot about the bikes because I don't think someone of that calibre is going to fork out one cent. I would rather see him go to jail."

Group called the Coluzzi Ride One of the riders said the cycling group called itself the Coluzzi Ride after the Darlinghurst cafe it regularly set out from and was made up of "serious, A-grade riders and pros".

"A lot of Olympians and professionals when they are in town join the ride, most of them are just higher level amateurs, you have to be pretty fast to keep up," said rider Nick Cooper, 27. One of the group said the motorist was "worrying" the rear of the pack, then overtook, pulled in front and slammed on his brakes, giving the riders no time to stop. Slammed into each other

"Everyone's slammed into each other ... there were broken bikes - wheels busted and wheels snapped - and people lying on the road." Mr Cooper said: "Three female cyclists took the brunt of the accident, careering into the back of the braking vehicle, several of them being thrown into the air landing on the boot and roof of the car.

"Most riders were left with cuts and bruises and at least some damage to bikes, shoes and helmets, including some bikes sustaining thousands of dollars of damage. "This whole incident really exemplified the escalating road rage towards cyclists happening on Sydney's roads. "Road rage seems to occur with or without provocation, and regardless of whether cyclists are riding in a law abiding way, or slowing down traffic.

Motorists jeered "A perfect example of the enmity were the jeers and taunts of several drivers - more than three separate drivers that I noticed - making their way past the aftermath of the accident, despite the fact that a police car and two ambulances were on the scene treating seriously injured people.

"[A] policemen informed us that the back of the group was nearly cleaned up by a semitrailer locking the brakes to avoid the suddenly halting group, with its trailer jackknifing and sliding towards the group before being skilfully brought under control by the driver, narrowly avoiding potential fatalities," Mr Cooper said. He said he overheard one rider telling a policewoman that his bicycle, which had sustained major damage to its front wheel, was worth $9000. Michelle Ferris, who was at the front of the pack, described the collision.

"We we're all in the left hand lane and this Ford Falcon came from the middle lane and swerved into the front of the bunch and braked suddenly," she said. "We were doing about 40kmh, there was no way for me to go and I went straight into the back of his car and other riders went into me.

"My chin [hit] the back window and my bike was totalled." Police - including an off-duty officer who witnessed the crash - quickly closed the lane down while they investigated the incident. Driver known to police

It is understood they know who the driver of the car is, and are attempting to contact him now. It is expected he will be charged, including with failing to stop at the scene of an accident and negligent or dangerous driving.

There was no doubt the driver of the dark blue Ford Falcon - described by other witnesses as in his 30s with a female passenger - had done it deliberately, she said. Everyone was particularly worried about Kate Nichols, given her involvement in the 2005 road crash in Germany in which national team member Amy Gillett was killed, Ferris said. "We were all very worried about her. When I saw her she was as white as a ghost still sitting on the ground."

Nichols's father Kevin, who was also involved in the crash, said his daughter had only just begun riding again after a lengthy lay-off. "She's pretty shaken, it's a pretty shaking incident," he said.

"She just started [riding again] last week, she had a long break and had just started out again. She hadn't ridden with this group for months. "She had had a bit of tiredness, issues being sorted out, she had started work and was taking it easy. She was sick last year, she had a virus." Mr Nichols said he was not sure if the crash, so soon after the horrific injuries she suffered in Germany in 2005, would prompt his daughter to give the sport away completely.

"Who knows?" he said. "You take each day as it comes with this sort of thing." His daughter was not in contention for the Australian Olympic cycling team for this year's Games, he added.

Mr Nichols said she was not badly injured but had a bump on the head and was having precautionary X-rays following the crash, which he described as "malicious". He said he saw the face of the driver of the Falcon and his female passenger, whom he believed were both aged in their 30s, and said they appeared to find their actions funny. "Most motorists are really good, but clowns such as the person today are just one out of the box," he said.

Road rules for cyclists Cyclists riding in groups on public roads can only cycle next to one other rider - a law described by the Roads and Traffic Authority as riding "two abreast" - and must not ride more than 1.5 metres apart.

The RTA's website also stipulates that cyclists must ride in a bicycle lane if one is available and can use bus lanes, except when the lane is marked "buses only". Contrary to some correspondence to smh.com.au today, the section of road where the crash happened was flanked by a shoulder, not a cycle path. Children under 12 are allowed to ride on a footpath but adults are only permitted to use them if they are supervising a child.

Ferris said the group involved in today's crash were obeying the road rules before the pile-up. "We were riding two abreast and 1.5 metres from the left of the lane," she said.

"We were all riding together, we certainly weren't going out there to cause trouble." Ferris, who said she was feeling "pretty sore" after being one of the first to crash into the braking vehicle, said some of the ignorance in the community about the rights of cyclists on the road was "just astounding". - with Stephen Samuelson