The death yesterday of the Swiss Gino Mäder during the Tour of Switzerland joins a long list of cyclists who have died in the race over the last decades. Casartelli, Weylandt, Demoitié or the Spanish Manuel Sanroma are some of the most prominent names that cycling has lost due to tragic accidents in the race.
The Italian Fabio Casartelli died on July 18, 1995, during the queen stage of the Tour de France. He was only 25 years old. The Motorola cyclist was descending the first of the ports of the mythical Tourmalet stage, Portet D’ Aspet, when at kilometer 34 he was involved in a multiple fall. Several runners fell down a ravine, but Casartelli suffered worse luck. He shot out and hit his head against one of the stones that marked the road. A tragic accident that fueled the debate on the mandatory nature of the helmet, a protective element that cyclists did not like at that time.
Olympic champion in Barcelona 92 ??’, Casartelli’s is one of the most remembered losses in the history of cycling. The images of the runner lying on the ground in a pool of blood went around the world on television and on the front pages of newspapers. Two days later, Lance Armstrong, the Italian’s teammate, won the Limoges stage and dedicated it to him as he crossed the finish line pointing both fingers to the sky.
The Belgian Wouter Weylandt died at the age of 26 due to a severe fall during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2011. The accident occurred at kilometer 173 of the stage between Reggio Emilia and Rapallo, during the Passo del Bocco. The Leopard-Trek cyclist was struck violently against the road wall on the face and head.
He was knocked unconscious on the spot and although they tried to revive him for 40 minutes, they couldn’t do anything for him. He had lost a lot of blood and the severe fracture suffered at the base of his skull caused his death. The race management then withdrew Weylandt’s number and since 2011 no rider has worn the ‘108’ in the Giro. The Belgian is the fourth cyclist to die in the Giro after those of the Italian Orfeo Ponsin (1952), the Spanish Juan Manuel Santisteban (1976) and the Italian Emilio Ravasio (1986).
The Spanish Manuel Sanroma, who died at the age of 22 in the Volta a Catalunya in 1999, was also the victim of a fall. The Fuenlabrada cyclist was involved in a multiple fall with a kilometer and a half to go in the second stage. As happened with Casartelli, Sanroma was the worst stopped when he hit his head on a curb. He lost too much blood and was rushed to the hospital, they couldn’t do anything for his life.
The unfortunate young man was racing this season for the first time as a professional and in a short time he had stood out as a great sprinter, especially after his victory over the Italian Cipollini in the Vuelta Ciclista a Valencia, where the man from Almagreño himself declared that he had defeated his great idol . In his short career as a professional he had accumulated eight stage victories in the cycling tours of Venezuela, El Alentejo (Portugal) Asturias and Valencia and his next goal was the Spanish Cycling Championship, scheduled for the end of this month in Córdoba, where he had set high hopes.
Belgian cyclist Antoine Demoitie died at the age of 25 after being hit by a motorcycle during the Ghent-Wevelgem classic. The accident took place at kilometer 150, when they were driving through the north of France. He fell to the ground along with three other cyclists and a motorcycle that was following him from behind did not have time to avoid him.
The Wanty-Gobert cyclist was initially transferred to Ypres Hosptial, but given his seriousness, he was taken from there to Lille University Hospital for serious purposes. After hours fighting to survive, already at dawn, his team confirmed the death of the Liège cyclist.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of an accident that changed cycling forever. The death of Kazakh Andrei Kivilev pushed the UCI to make helmets mandatory for all cyclists. A measure that nobody questions today, but that for a long time caused the rejection of the brokers.
It was March 12, 2003. He was running the second stage of the mythical Paris-Nice when there was a fall like any other in the peloton between La Clayette and Saint Etienne. Most of the cyclists rejoined the march, but one remained motionless. It was Kivilev. The Cofidis cyclist had hit his face against the asphalt. He suffered severe head injuries from which he would end up dying the next day.
The Kazakh, who ranked fourth in the Tour two years before the tragedy, contributed with his death to one of the greatest revolutions in cyclist safety. The debate on the implantation of helmets had been established in cycling since the death of Casartelli in 1995 and the death of Kivilev was the definitive push. Just two months after this tragedy, just before the Giro d’Italia began, the UCI approved the mandatory nature of the helmet, although with some exceptions at the beginning.
