A British cyclist has reportedly died on the Costa Blanca.

The unnamed man was on a road racer in the residential area of Gran Alacant, just south of the city of Alicante, at the time.

The tragedy happened yesterday morning on a busy road running near the sea called Mediterranean Avenue, close to a popular scenic beach called Carabassi Beach.

Local police, Civil Guard officers and emergency medical responders were mobilised, but the sportsman is thought to have been certified dead at the scene.

Witnesses told investigators he had not been hit by a car using the road and had come off his bike as he rode up a hill.

A local paper in Santa Pola, the municipality the incident occurred in, said police were looking into whether he had suffered a sudden health issue.

Civil Guard officers were pictured removing the Cannondale racing bike from a grassy embankment at the side of the road.

It is not yet clear if the cyclist lived locally or was on holiday.

In April, a British cyclist died while competing in a famous amateur race in Majorca.

Tributes were paid to Phillip Williams, 39, who died after a fall on April 26 despite attempts by emergency medical responders to save him.

He suffered his accident on the road between Esporles and Valldemossa as he took part in the gruelling Mallorca 312 event, which this year featured the likes of former Chelsea and Real Madrid star Eden Hazard.

In May, a 54-year-old British woman was rushed to hospital after being seriously hurt in a bicycle accident on the same holiday island.

She was injured on the Ma-10 road near the mountain village of Fornalutx in the north-west of Majorca.