List of racing cyclists and pacemakers with a cycling-related death

The first documented deaths of competitive cyclists during competition or training date to the 1890s and early 1900s when the recently invented safety bicycle made cycling more popular, both as a sport and as a mode of transport.^[1] The athletes listed here were either professional cyclists, professional pacemakers or well-known competitive amateurs who had a cycling-related death, mostly during a race or during training. Pacemakers are motorcyclists utilized in motor-paced racing, riding motorcycles in front of their cycling teammates to provide additional speed to those cyclists via the resulting slipstream.^[2]

Parc des Princes Velodrome,
site of Breton's 1902 death
(c. 1900 postcard)

The cyclist Paul Dangla and his pacemaker teammate Marius Thé in the Vélodrome d'Hiver (c. 1903)

Safety has been a concern since cycling's early days. By 1929, at least 47 people had died while racing at velodromes – 33 cyclists and 14 pacemakers.^{[3][Note 1]} Motor-paced cycling still exists in the modern era as keirin racing and derny racing. A number of professionals and competitive amateurs have been killed in crashes with motorized vehicles while training on public roads plus there is a growing number of cyclists who have died of heart attacks while cycling in a race or while training.^[6] Some of these deaths affect cycle racing afterwards – the death of Andrey Kivilev in a crash during the 2003 Paris–Nice race caused the Union Cycliste Internationale to institute a mandatory helmet rule.

The dangers of the various sporting forms of cycling continue to be an issue,^[7] including training on public roadways.^[8] A survey of 2008 Olympics teams, however, indicated that cycling was not even in the top six most injury-prone sports during competition that year.^[9] Racing cyclists who have died during a race or during training are remembered by cycling aficionados and the cycling press. Their personal effects are exhibited in museums,^[10] their cemetery markers and tombstones are visited by fans, and as one commentator wrote: "Plaques, statues and shrines to cycling's fallen heroes are scattered all over Europe's mountain roads, turning any ride into a pilgrimage."^[11]

Cyclists who died during a race or because of a crash that happened during a race

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Cyclists who died during a race

Name	Image	Competitive status	Date of death	Nationality	Location of death and additional information
Pierre Froget	—	Track cyclist	August 21, 1894	France	Crashed at the Velodrome in Vichy while tandem racing as a track cyclist. Died six days later at the age of 21, was the first death in a cycling crash on a French track.[12]
Bert Harris	—	Track cyclist (professional)	April 21, 1897	United Kingdom	While participating in a race at Aston on Easter Monday of 1897 Harris' cycle touched another rider and he was upset head-first onto the track's surface. Harris died a few days later, never having regained consciousness. Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Leicester for his funeral procession.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
Muller	—	Pacemaker	1899	German Empire	Due to a fall during a competition on the winter track in Hamburg, Muller died directly at the scene. Kocher, the cyclist of the pacemaker, decided to quit cycling.[19]
Harry Miles William Stafford	—	Pacemakers	May 31, 1900	United States	During a race at the Waltham, Massachusetts track, four tandem-motorcycles crash. Pacemakers Miles and Stafford, both 25 years old, are killed in the crash.[19][20]
Oscar Aaronson[Note 3]	—	Track cyclist	December 22, 1900	Sweden	Injured during December 16, 1900 competitors' crash at the New York City/Madison Square Garden Six-Day Race.[21][22][23] Died on the 22nd from aftereffects of the crash, from exhaustion and pneumonia.[24]
Johnny Nelson	—	Track cyclist	September 6, 1901	USA	Nelson was a professional cyclist originally from Chicago. On September 4, 1901 he was in a 15-mile match race with Jimmy Michael at Madison Square Garden. Two miles into the race a tire on Nelson's pacemaker's vehicle exploded. Nelson then collided with the vehicles of both his pacemaker and Michael's pacemaker. Nelson's leg was badly lacerated in the crash and he suffered a massive blood loss. He died two days later in Bellevue Hospital.[25][26]
Charles Kerff	—	Road cyclist	May 18, 1902	Belgium	Kerff crashed during the French cycling classic Marseille–Paris in which his brother Marcel also participated. The cause was unknown but Kerff had no visible injuries and was unconscious immediately after the crash. He was taken to the hospital in Aix-en-Provence but was dead on arrival.[27]
Harry Elkes		Track cyclist	May 30, 1903	United States	Died in a crash at Charles River Track in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[28][29][3] Held the world record for "paced-cycle racing" during most of his career and just prior to his fatal crash had achieved a new 5 Miles World Record (going that distance in 6 minutes, 12 1/5 seconds)[28] as well as achieving world's records for 10 and 15 miles.[30] Major Taylor in his autobiography called Elkes "one of the greatest middle-distance riders that ever pedalled a bicycle."[31]
Alfred Görnemann		Track cyclist	October 11, 1903	German Empire	Collided with his pacemaker during an October 11, 1903 race on the Dresden track and died that evening.[32][33]
Jules Oreggia	—	Track cyclist	May 15, 1904	France	Died during a stayers race at the Marseille velodrome[34][35]
Pilack	—	Track cyclist, pacemaker	June 16, 1904	German Empire	Died at the track while acting as a pacemaker during a race[32][19]
Paul Dangla		Track cyclist	June 1904[Note 4]	France	Died from injuries he received in a crash on a track at Magdeburg, Germany.[39][38]
Karl Käser		Track cyclist	August 14, 1904	German Empire	Was killed during a paced race between himself and Thaddeus Robl at the Plauen track in Saxony, Germany. Was utilizing a 24-inch tire on a 22-inch wheel and in the moments before his fatal crash Käser had just pushed back his safety helmet.[40][Note 5][41][42][Note 6]
George Leander		Track cyclist	August 23, 1904	United States	Died as a result of injuries during a race at the Parc des Princes track (or velodrome) in Paris. Had been going 92 kmh/57 mph at the time.[3][42][43][44]
Jimmy Michael		Road & Track cyclist	November 1904	United Kingdom	Died November 20, 1904[45] as a result of the injuries he received in a crash at a Berlin track a year or two before[Note 7] where his skull was fractured.[19][46] It is thought that Michael probably had some kind of brain damage from the fall, as afterwards he suffered from severe headaches,[32] had partial paralysis of his face, and had lapses of memory. Michael was en route from the UK to the United States on the ocean steamer "Savoie". The night before he died Michael complained of feeling sick and nauseous, telling the ship's doctor that his symptoms were the result of the Berlin track crash.[45][48] Some sources state he died from alcoholic delirium tremens[49] or a brain hemorrhage.[3]
Charles Albert Brécy		Track cyclist	November 25, 1904	France	Crashed into his pacemaker's motorcycle when the engine failed, died eleven days later. The crash occurred during an attempt to break the Paced Hour Record (meaning how much distance could be achieved within an hour) at the Parc des Princes velodrome.[50][51][Note 8]
Hubert Sevenich		Track cyclist	May 7, 1905	German Empire	Sevenich's sixth stayer competition as a professional was the Grand Prix of Brunswijk on 7 May 1905. During the race a pacer's motorcycle collided with others on the track and Sevenich was crushed to death against the track's guardrail.[52][53][54][55][19]
Willy Schmitter		Track cyclist	September 18, 1905	German Empire	Suffered a skull fracture in a crash during the European Championship at the Leipzig track and died a few hours afterwards[56][57]
Gustav Freudenberg		Track cyclist	April 29, 1906	German Empire	Collided with a pacemaker's motorcycle at the track in Magdeburg. An artery in his right leg was torn open and he died at the track as a result of his injuries.[58][59]
Richard Huhndorf		Track cyclist (amateur) & Stayer	July 22, 1906	German Empire	Fatally injured during a 100 km race, the Kleinen Golden Rad von Halle[60][61]
Charles Péguy		Track cyclist, pacemaker	June 9, 1907	France	Died in a crash on the Spandau Track in Berlin.[62][63]
Louis Mettling [de]		Track cyclist	June 21, 1907	United States	Died in his sleep on June 21 as a result of a crash during a 50-mile pace-following race on the Dresden track June 9, 1907[64][65][66]
Josef Schwarzer		Pacemaker	August 30, 1907	German Empire	Düsseldorf track[67]
Moritz Hübner		Track cyclist (amateur)	October 13, 1907	German Empire	During "Die Goldpokal", a 100 km stayers' race, Hübner fell to the track when his pacing motorcycle broke down, then was fatally injured when a succeeding cycle ran over his body.[68][69]
Gustav Schadebrodt		Track cyclist	October 22, 1907	German Empire	Died in a crash at the Brandenburg track with his brother Otto as pacemaker. The two Schadebrodt brothers were a team, Otto Schadebrodt the pacemaker riding a motorcycle in front and Gustav riding his bicycle behind.[70][71]
Ernst Wolf		Pacemaker	October 29, 1907	German Empire	While standing at the edge of the Dresden Track, Wolf was run over by a fellow pacemaker.[72]
Karel Verbist		Track cyclist	July 21, 1909	Belgium	Verbist collided with his pacemaker's (Constant Ceurremans') motorcycle on the Bruxelles track.[73][74][75] Verbist is the subject of a macabre Flemish folk-poem... "Chareltje, Chareltje Verbist, hadt ge niet gereden op de pist(e), hadt ge niet gelegen in de kist."[76] which roughly translates to "Verbist, if you hadn't ridden your bike, you may not have ended up in a coffin."
Fritz Theile		Track cyclist	June 4, 1911	German Empire	Zehlendorf Velodrome[77]
Hans Bachmann	—	Pacemaker	1913	German Empire	Velodrome Hall[78]
Hans Lange	—	Track cyclist	1913	German Empire	Velodrome Hall[78]
August Kraft	—	Track cyclist	July 25, 1913	German Empire	Strasbourg, France[79]
Richard Scheuermann		Track cyclist	September 8, 1913	German Empire	Killed almost instantly during a 100-kilometer event on the Cologne track. Gus Lawson, Paul Guignard's pacemaker, lost control of his pacemaking motorcycle when the back tire blew out. Emil Meinhold, Scheuermann's pacemaker, then collided – at 50 mph on his motorcycle – straight into the wreckage.[80][81] Scheuermann and Lawson were both killed almost instantly. Meinhold was mistakenly reported in the newspapers of the day to have died (which error has been repeated in modern references[82]) but he recovered from his injuries and was involved in the cycling world for many years afterwards.[83][84]
Gus Lawson		Pacemaker	September 8, 1913	United States	Killed immediately in a multi bicycle–motorcycle crash on the Cologne track during a 100-kilometer event.[81] (See Richard Scheuermann 'Notes' above)
Max Hansen	—	Track cyclist	October 12, 1913	German Empire	Berlin Velodrome Stadium[78]
Piet van Nek sr. [nl][Note 9]		Track cyclist	April 14, 1914	Netherlands	Injured and died as a result of a tire blow-out on the Leipzig track during the inaugural Grote Oostprijs, a 100+ km race. van Nek's Amsterdam artistic gravesite marker is a well-known monument in Amsterdam.[85]
Willy Hamann	—	Track cyclist	July 21, 1914	German Empire	Treptow track. The crash occurred on July 15, Hamann died six days later in hospital.[86]
Max Bauer	—	Pacemaker	1917	German Empire	Treptow track[87]
Jacob Esser	—	Track cyclist	July 8, 1917	German Empire	Died shortly after a crash at the Düsseldorf Germany track that happened when one of his tires blew out[88][89]
Louis Darragon		Track cyclist	April 28, 1918	France	Died in a crash on the track of the Vélodrome d'Hiver Paris.[90]
Peter Günther		Track cyclist	October 7, 1918	German Empire	Günther died the day after an October 6 crash at a track in Düsseldorf. He was involved in a collision with his pacemaker's motorcycle after the motorcycle's rear tire burst.[91][92]
Hans Schneider	—	Track cyclist	January 1920	Weimar Republic	[93]
Emanuel Kudela		Track cyclist	September 22, 1920	Weimar Republic	Olympia track, Berlin[94]
Christian Oorlemans[Note 10]	—	Pacemaker	August 22, 1922	Netherlands	Died in a crash during a track race at Amsterdam's "Het Stadion". Thousands attended Oorlemans' funeral procession.[95][96]
Walter Ebert	—	Track cyclist	June 1, 1924	Weimar Republic	Magdeburg track[97]
Gustave Ganay		Track cyclist	August 23, 1926	France	Stayer. Died from a fall at the Parc des Princes.[98] The crash was immortalized by Ernest Hemingway in A Moveable Feast with "where we saw that great rider Ganay fall and heard his skull crumple under the crash helmet as you crack an hard-boiled egg against a stone to peel it on a picnic."[99]
Franz Krupkat	—	Track cyclist	June 1, 1927	Weimar Republic	Leipzig track[100]
Ernst Feja	—	Track cyclist	June 1, 1927	Weimar Republic	Crashed while training on the concrete track at Oerlikon in Zurich[101][102]
Constant Ceurremans	—	Pacemaker	June 18, 1931	Belgium /  Netherlands	Died in a crash on the track at Cologne. Also involved in Karel (Charles) Verbist's fatal crash in 1909[74][5]
Werner Krüger		Pacemaker	July 21, 1931	Weimar Republic	Died after a fall on the Cologne-Riehl track during a stayer race, while riding as a pacemaker for Emil Thollembeek[103] Was a survivor of the 1909 Friedenau disaster.[5]
Georg Pawlack[Note 11]	—	Track cyclist	June 10, 1933	Nazi Germany	Run over by a pacemaker after his bicycle slipped on a rain-soaked track[104]
Georges Lemaire		Road cyclist	September 29, 1933	Belgium	Died in a crash during the Belgian club championship road race in Uccle, Belgium.[105][Note 12][106]
Emil Richli	—	Track cyclist	May 13, 1934	Switzerland	Track championships[107]
Francisco Cepeda	—	Road cyclist	July 14, 1935	Spain	Tour de France. "Fell down a ravine near Bourg-d'Oisans",[108] died while making the Col du Galibier descent.[109]
Giulio Bartali	—	Road cyclist (amateur)	June 14, 1936	Italy	Brother and training partner of 1938 and 1948 Tour de France winner Gino Bartali. Giulio and Gino Bartali were participating in a regional championship race in Florence, the Targa Chiari, when a car drove onto the course and mowed Giulio down. He died two days later in hospital, never having regained consciousness.[110]
Len Johnson	—	Track and Road cyclist (amateur)	August 8, 1936	Australia	Melbourne to Sale Race. Johnson was riding on the Princes Highway, when he slowed due to a puncture and was hit by a truck laden with timber.[111]
Stefan Veger	—	Track cyclist	November 1936	Netherlands	Track Gent[112]
André Raynaud		Track cyclist	March 1937	France	A world champion stayer, Raynaud died during an Antwerp Sportpaleis track race.[74][113]
Adrien Buttafochi		Road cyclist	July 6, 1937	France	As he was descending the Col Esteret pass during the Grand Prix d'Antibes, Buttafocchi crashed into a wayward vehicle driving up the hill. He lingered in a coma for a few days before dying.[114][115]
Hefty Stuart	—	Road & Track cyclist	December 9, 1938	Australia	Riding in a motor pacing event, Walter "Hefty" Stuart's front tire blew out, causing him to fall and he was run over by a following pacing motorcycle. Stuart died in hospital two weeks later.[116]
Jean Alavoine		Road cyclist	July 18, 1943	France	Alavoine's professional career lasted from 1908 until 1925, he won 17 Tour de France stages along the way. In 1943 at the age of 55 he died during a veterans race in Argenteuil.[117][118][119]
Richard Depoorter	—	Road cyclist	June 16, 1948	Belgium	Crashed into a tunnel wall on a descent of the Sustenpas near Bern,[120] during the Tour of Switzerland, died onsite or shortly thereafter of his injuries.[121][122][123]
Léon Level		Road & Track cyclist	March 26, 1949	France	Fractured his skull in a crash and died at the Parc des Princes track in Paris.[124][125][126]
Paul Chacque	—	Road & Track cyclist	September 1949	France	Died when he fractured his skull during a race at the "Parc des Princes" track in Paris[124]
Paul Kroll [de]	—	Road, Track cyclist (professional)	November 8, 1949	Germany	Died in a crash during a Berlin 1000 laps race at the Funkturm track[127][Note 13]
Gerard van Beek		Road cyclist	March 15, 1951	Netherlands	Died of a skull fracture suffered during the Berlin Six-Day race held in March[128][129][Note 14]
Camille Danguillaume		Road cyclist	June 26, 1951	France	Killed in collision with press motorcycle during Critérium International (Championship of France)[131][132][133]
Serse Coppi	—	Road cyclist (professional)	June 29, 1951	Italy	Crashed near the end of the 1951 Tour of Piedmont (aka "Tour du Piedmont" and "Giro del Piemonte") on June 28. Finished race but then died the next day.[134][135]
Rudi Mirke	—	Road cyclist (professional)	December 10, 1951	Germany	Berlin Six Day. Died after falling during the race.[136][Note 14]
Orfeo Ponsin	—	Road cyclist (professional)	May 20, 1952	Italy	Crashed in the fourth stage of the 1952 Giro d'Italia. Died in hospital that evening.[137][138]
Erich Metze	—	Road, Track cyclist	July 28, 1952[Note 15]	Germany	Metze suffered three skull fractures during his long career, which stretched from 1930 until 1952. The last one was fatal and occurred during a race on the Erfurt cycle track.[141][143]
Stan Ockers		Road, Track cyclist cyclist (professional)	October 1, 1956	Belgium	During a track race at the Sportpaleis Antwerp, the 1955 road race world champion didn't see that Ernest Sterckx had returned to the track after a mechanical failure. Ockers looked back and drove full into his opponent. He fell into a coma and died 2 days later.[144][145][Note 16]
Joaquín Polo	—	Road cyclist (professional)	August 4, 1958	Spain	Died of heatstroke during the 1958 Tour of Portugal[108][147]
Raúl Motos	—	Road cyclist (professional)		Spain
Russell Mockridge		Road cyclist (professional)	September 13, 1958	Australia	Tour of Gippsland.[148][149]
Willy Lauwers	—	Road cyclist (professional)	April 1959	Belgium	Lauwers died at the age of 22 in an accident during a motor-paced race in the Tirador de Palma Velodrome. He had won the first leg of the race and fell in the 46th lap of the second. Lauwers, who was riding at a speed of over 70 km per hour, suddenly lost his balance and fell on the track and was then hit by the motorbike of rider Pedro Gomila who followed him from a short distance. He died in hospital, half an hour after the accident.[150][151]
Kiyoshi Kitazawa		Track cyclist (keirin)	May 1959	Japan	All-Star Keirin [ja], taking place at the Osaka Nagai Velodrome[152]
Knud Enemark Jensen	—	Road cyclist (amateur)	September 1960	Denmark	Jensen collapsed during the 100-kilometer team time trial at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games, suffering a skull fracture and dying several hours later. Some commentators state that Jensen's autopsy revealed traces of drugs in his system but the Italian authorities' 1961 report stated that the official cause of death was heatstroke. A race-day temperature of 40 degrees Celsius/104 degrees Fahrenheit and Jensen's post-crash care (being kept in a "hot military tent"), could have been probable contributing factors.[153][154][155][156][157]
Alessandro Fantini	—	Road cyclist (professional)	May 5, 1961	Italy	Died after a crash at the end of the sixth stage of the 1961 Tour of Germany[158]
Shosuke Fukushima [ja]		Track cyclist (keirin)	April 30, 1967	Japan	All-Star Keirin [ja], taking place at the Kishiwada Velodrome [ja][159] Fell off his bike, where he died of skull fracture.[160]
Tom Simpson		Road cyclist (professional)	July 13, 1967	United Kingdom	Fell unconscious from his bike on the ascent up Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France, after suffering heart issues, heatstroke, the aftereffects of taking amphetamine and other medical issues. He died shortly afterwards in hospital,[161] near where his famous memorial stands.[10][162][163][Note 17]
Masamitsu Nakamura		Track cyclist (keirin)	August 1967	Japan	National Prefectural Keirin Championship [ja], Shizuoka Velodrome [ja][152] His and Fujishima's death at a high-profile race (the equivalent of today's GI) led to wider rule revisions by NJS to improve safety.[168][160]
Valentín Uriona	—	Road cyclist (professional)	July 30, 1967	Spain	Spanish Championship[169][170]
José Samyn	—	Road cyclist (professional)	August 28, 1969	France	Zingem, Belgium[171]
Radamés Treviño	—	Road and Track cyclist (professional)	April 12, 1970	Mexico	Crashed during a regional race between Pachuca and Mexico City.[172]
Jean-Pierre Monseré		Road, Track cyclist (professional)	March 15, 1971	Belgium	The 22-year-old 1970 world champion died during a local race in Lille, Antwerp when he collided head-on with a car that had entered the course. On impact, he hit his head in the windscreen, killing him instantly.[173][174][Note 18][175]
Manuel Galera[Note 19]		Road cyclist (professional)	February 14, 1972	Spain	Tour of Andalusia[176][177]
Graeme Jose	—	Road cyclist (amateur)	June 23, 1973	Australia	While taking part in a race in Feldkirch Austria, he ran into the rear of a parked tray-topped lorry and was killed.[178]
Juan Manuel Santisteban[Note 20]		Road cyclist (professional)	May 21, 1976	Spain	Giro d'Italia. Died as a result of injuries when his head struck a crash barrier.[109][138]
Karl Kaminski [de]		Road, Track cyclist	October 8, 1978	East Germany	Leipzig[179]
Joaquim Agostinho		Road cyclist (professional)	May 10, 1984	Portugal	During the Tour of Algarve.[180] Died ten days after colliding with a dog which had run onto the race-course.[181]
Emilio Ravasio	—	Road cyclist (professional)	May 28, 1986	Italy	Giro d'Italia[138]
Vicente Mata	—	Road cyclist (professional)	February 17, 1987	Spain	Trofeo Luis Puig.[182] Died after colliding with a car during race.
Michel Goffin	—	Road cyclist (professional)	February 27, 1987	Belgium	Tour du Haut-Var in Marseilles France.[183][184] Goffin crashed and, after spending six days in a coma, died from his injuries.[182]
Connie Meijer	—	Road cyclist	August 17, 1988	Netherlands	Died during a criterium in the Netherlands[185]
Noriyuki Tonai [ja]		Track cyclist (keirin)	May 17, 1992	Japan	Fukui Velodrome [ja][159]
Fabio Casartelli		Road cyclist (professional)	July 18, 1995	Italy	Tour de France.[186][187][188][182]
José Antonio Espinosa[Note 21]	—	Road cyclist (professional)	November 1996	Spain	Criterium at Fuenlabrada[108][189][Note 22]
Isamu Narishima [ja]		Track cyclist (keirin)	July 24, 1998	Japan	Tachikawa Velodrome[159]
Manuel Sanroma	—	Road cyclist (professional)	June 19, 1999	Spain	Had a major crash 1 km from the end of a stage in the Volta a Catalunya and died at a nearby hospital[190][191]
Saúl Morales[Note 23]	—	Road cyclist (professional)	February 28, 2000	Spain	Hit by truck during the 2000 Tour of Argentina[192][193]
Nicole Reinhart	—	Road, Track cyclist (professional)	September 17, 2000	United States	Died as a result of a single-bike crash when she hit a tree during the 2000 BMC Tour event in Arlington/Boston.[194][108][195]
Masaharu Hattori [ja]		Track cyclist (keirin)	January 3, 2003	Japan	2R, A-class race; Ito Onsen Velodrome [ja]. Collapsed during cool down lap after finishing fourth. Was already in cardiac arrest when doctors arrived. Later died in hospital.[159]
Andrey Kivilev		Road cyclist (professional)	March 12, 2003	Kazakhstan	Crashed during the 2003 Paris–Nice and died the next morning. Kivilev was not wearing a helmet.[196][197] After his death, the wearing of helmets became compulsory in all official UCI races.[198]
Juan Barrero	—	Road cyclist (amateur)	June 11, 2004	Colombia	Crashed during a stage of the Vuelta a Colombia ("Tour of Colombia") on a high-speed descent early on in the stage. Barrero died in hospital shortly thereafter.[199]
Tim Pauwels	—	Cyclo-cross (professional)	September 26, 2004	Belgium	Passed out during an early-season cyclo-cross race in Erpe-Mere, Belgium and crashed. Some sources say that Pauwels' heart had stopped before the crash.[200][201]
Alessio Galletti	—	Road cyclist (professional)	June 15, 2005	Italy	Died of a heart attack 15 km from the finish line of the Subida al Naranco[197][202][203]
Patricia Pepper	—	Road cyclist	July 25, 2006	United Kingdom	At 70 years of age, while competing in a time trial her bike and another bike collided — she died in hospital nine days later.[204][205]
Isaac Gálvez	—	Road cyclist (professional)	November 26, 2006	Spain	Six Days of Ghent. Galvez died after coming into contact with Dimitri De Fauw and then crashing into a track railing.[206][207]
Bruno Neves	—	Road cyclist (professional)	May 11, 2008	Portugal	Classica de Amarante.[208] Neves' collapse from heart failure caused him to crash during the race.[209][210][211]
Kei Uchida [ja]		Track cyclist (keirin)	September 11, 2008	Japan	7R of S-class qualifying race during the first day of the All-Star Keirin [ja] at the Ichinomiya Velodrome [ja]. During the penultimate part of the decisive lap, whilst attempting to pass, Uchida was nudged into one side by an overtaking rider, who then rebounded into another rider, forcing him to rear back. This caused the spokes of Uchida's bicycle to collapse, throwing him over the handlebar face-first, striking his face onto the ground. He died in hospital hours later.[212][159][213] By then, Uchida was the 48th cyclist to die in accidents in the history of professional keirin, also the 4th to die in a GI graded event.[214]
Terumitsu Nakagaki [ja]		Track cyclist (keirin)	February 15, 2010	Japan	3R, A-class qualifying race, Hiroshima Velodrome [ja]. During the closing lap, he began to lose pace and collapsed where he was taken into hospital. He had already been in cardiac arrest and died shortly after.[159][213]
Thomas Casarotto	—	Road cyclist (professional)	September 10, 2010	Italy	During the Giro del Friuli Venezia Giulia[215] at Pesariis,[216] Casarotto hit the wing mirror of a SUV parked on the course[216] and then crashed. He died September 15, 2010, of head injuries and trauma.[217]
Wouter Weylandt		Road cyclist (professional) Leopard Trek	May 9, 2011	Belgium	Fatal crash on the Passo del Bocco during the third stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia[218]
Teruo Sakamoto [ja]		Track cyclist (keirin)	July 7, 2012	Japan	9R, A-class qualifying race, Odawara Keirin Velodrome [ja]. Crashed into a timing equipment used for photo finishes, after swerving inward to avoid a fallen rider whilst fighting for the lead. Died in hospital.[219][159]
Wouter Dewilde	—	Road cyclist	March 1, 2013	Belgium	Dewilde was involved in a fatal crash during a regional event for elite racing cyclists without a contract, Brugge (West-Vlaanderen), Belgium[220][221]
Junior Heffernan	—	Road cyclist (amateur)	March 3, 2013	Ireland	Died after collision with a car during the Severn Bridge Road Race in Gloucestershire[222]
Marcelo Graces	—	Road cyclist	March 31, 2013	Uruguay	Graces was involved in a fatal crash during last stage of Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay after collision with a motorcycle during the time trial final stage of the race[223]
Jeanné Nell	—	Track cyclist	February 11, 2014	RSA	Died in Cape Town, South Africa, during a keirin race[224]
Annefleur Kalvenhaar	—	Mountainbiker	August 23, 2014	Netherlands	Died in Grenoble, France, due to a crash during a UCI World Cup XCE race in Méribel, France[225]
Will Olson	—	Enduro/Mountainbike (amateur)	August 2, 2015	USA	Died in Crested Butte during an Enduro World Series race[226]
Antoine Demoitié		Road cyclist (professional) Wanty–Groupe Gobert	March 27, 2016	Belgium	Died in hospital in Lille, due to injuries sustained in a crash during the Gent–Wevelgem race. Having been one of a group of cyclists who fell as the race went through Sainte-Marie-Cappel, he was struck by a motorbike accompanying the race.[227]
Daan Myngheer		Road cyclist (professional) Roubaix–Métropole Européenne de Lille	March 28, 2016	Belgium	Died in hospital two days after suffering a heart attack during first stage of Critérium International[228][229]
Gijs Verdick	—	Road cyclist (professional) Cyclingteam Jo Piels	May 9, 2016	Netherlands	Died a week after suffering two heart attacks at the Under-23 Carpathian Couriers Race in Poland.[230]
Bahman Golbarnezhad		Road cyclist Iranian Paralympic	September 17, 2016	Iran	2016 Summer Paralympics. Had a head injury after colliding with a rock midway through the C4 road race of the Paralympics. Subsequently had cardiac arrest and died on the way to hospital.[231][232]
Eslam Nasser Zaki	—	Road, Track cyclist	March 20, 2017	Egypt	Suffered a fatal heart attack while riding in the omnium event at the African Continental Track Championships at the Cyril Geoghegan Velodrome in Durban, South Africa.[233] He was a member of the Bahraini VIB Bikes road race team.
Mike Hall		Road endurance cyclist	March 31, 2017	United Kingdom	Died after being struck by a car on the outskirts of Canberra, Australia. He was in second place in a 3,300-mile race, the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, which was subsequently cancelled.[234]
Chad Young		Road cyclist (professional) Axeon–Hagens Berman	April 28, 2017	United States	Received severe head injuries in a fall on a descent during the final stage of the Tour of the Gila into Pinos Altos, New Mexico and died in hospital in Tucson five days later.[235][236]
Casey Saunders	—	Road cyclist (professional)	June 25, 2017	United States	Died after crashing in the Pro-1-2 criterium at Tour of Kansas City[237]
Ray Dare	—	Road cyclist (amateur)	July 19, 2017	United Kingdom	Died after being rear-ended by a vehicle on the A41 near Aylesbury while attempting a 10 mile national record for his age (91) in a time trial.[238]
Mathieu Riebel	—	Road cyclist (professional) Shell Pacific team	October 20, 2017	France	Died instantly in a collision on the descent of the Col de La Pirogue during Stage 9 of the Tour de Nouvelle-Calédonie[239]
Michael Goolaerts		Road cyclist (professional) Vérandas Willems–Crelan	April 8, 2018	Belgium	During the Paris–Roubaix classic, Goolaerts suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest on the third cobbled sector at Saint-Python, after 109 km of racing. He was resuscitated by paramedics and transferred by helicopter to CHRU-Hospital in Lille, although he died later that day.[240]
Stef Loos	—	Road cyclist (professional) Acrog-Pauwelssauzen-Balen team	March 18, 2019	Belgium	Died after colliding with a van on the Mémorial Alfred Gadenne after a group of three riders took the wrong turning at a junction[241]
Robbert de Greef		Road cyclist (professional) Alecto Cycling Team	April 25, 2019	Netherlands	Suffered cardiac arrest during the Omloop van de Braakman race[242]
Bjorg Lambrecht		Road cyclist (professional) Lotto–Soudal	August 5, 2019	Belgium	Crashed into a concrete culvert during stage three of the 2019 Tour de Pologne. He was taken to a hospital by ambulance and died during surgery.[243]
Suleiman Kangangi		Road / Gravel Cyclist	August 27, 2022	Kenya	Kangangi was killed in a high speed crash while riding in a gravel race in Vermont.[244]
Gino Mäder		Road Cyclist (professional) Team Bahrain Victorious	June 16, 2023	Switzerland	Gino Mäder died following a crash on the descent of the Albula Pass on stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse.[245]
André Drege	—	Road Cyclist (professional) Team Coop–Repsol	July 6, 2024	Norway	Drege died during the descent of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road on stage 4 of the 2024 Tour of Austria.[246]
Muriel Furrer	—	Road Cyclist (junior)	September 27, 2024	Switzerland	Furrer died following a crash at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships. She died the next day in the hospital of Zürich.[247]
Samuele Privitera	—	Road Cyclist (junior)	July 16, 2025	Italy	Privitera died after a crash in Giro Ciclistico della valle D'Aosta.[248]

Cyclists who died during training

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The following athletes died while individually training for competitions or during scheduled breaks while participating in a professional race. The only incident of multiple deaths from a team involved Néstor Mora, Augusto Triana, and Hernán Patiño from Team Postobón in 1995. The death rates for cyclists, in general, differ from country to country depending on how popular cycling is. A 2015 study of European Union cyclists' deaths, for instance, showed that in the Netherlands almost 25% of road deaths were cyclists while Greece had less than 5%.^{[8][Note 24]}

1900 to 1989

Cyclists who died during training

Name	Image	Competitive status	Date of death	Nationality	Location of death and additional information
Archie McEachern	—	Track cyclist	May 13, 1902	Canada	Coliseum Cycling Track, Atlantic City, New Jersey.[249] McEachern was participating in a practice run prior to the Atlantic City velodrome's official opening. Riding close to the pace vehicle, McEachern was fatally injured when the bike's drive chain broke and died within minutes.[250][251]
Breton	—	Track cyclist	August 1902	Unknown	Parc des Princes track. Killed when he steered his bicycle away from another cyclist and into the path of a 14-horsepower motorcycle being driven at 50 mph by Marius Thé. The track management allowed motorcyclists and racing bicyclists (called "flyers") to train at the same time.[252]
Edouard Taylor[Note 25]		Track cyclist	1903[3]	France[Note 26]	Died at Aubervilliers, France in 1903.[254][253][255]
Hugh McLean	—	Track cyclist	September 5, 1909	United States	Revere, Massachusetts cycling track. Died as a result of a training crash earlier in the month at the cycling track in Revere, Massachusetts.[256][257]
Franz Suter		Road cyclist	June 1, 1914	Switzerland	Struck by a train while training with his brother Paul near Courbevoie, France[258][259]
Ottavio Bottecchia		Road cyclist	June 14, 1927	Italy	[260] Found by the side of the road with bruises and serious skull fracture. The cause has remained a mystery – various theories have included a solo-crash/serious fall or an assault by unknown Fascists.[261][262]
Gustave Lejour	—	Track cyclist	1928	Unknown	Died while training on the Frankfurt (Germany) track[263]
Leo Verberkt	—	Track cyclist	December 7, 1936	Netherlands	Died on the "Aalsterweg" near Eindhoven after being hit by a bus.[264]
Seiki Hirama [ja]		Track cyclist	August 21, 1968	Japan	Fell off his bike and fractured his skull on August 16, during training camp at the Hiratsuka Velodrome [ja], preparing for the 1968 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Later died in hospital of cerebral contusion. Hirama wore a leather helmet.

1990 to 2000

Cyclists who died during training

Name	Image	Competitive status	Date of death	Nationality	Location of death and additional information
Antonio Martín	—	Road cyclist	February 11, 1994	Spain	Killed by a truck while training near Madrid[265][Note 24]
Néstor Mora	—	Road cyclist	February 21, 1995	Colombia	Three members of Team Postobón were killed almost immediately while group training when a truck collided with another vehicle, sending the second vehicle careening into the group of cyclists.[266][267]
Augusto Triana	—	Road cyclist		Colombia
Hernán Patiño	—	Road cyclist		Colombia
Anders Nilsson	—	Road cyclist professional	June 21, 2000	Sweden	Died immediately when hit by a speeding car during bicycle training, the driver left the scene. National team member in triathlon.[268]

2001 to 2009

Cyclists who died during training

Name	Image	Competitive status	Date of death	Nationality	Location of death and additional information
Ricardo Otxoa	—	Road cyclist professional	February 15, 2001	Spain	Hit by a car during a training session together with his brother Javier (who survived but had serious brain injuries). The Circuito de Getxo was renamed the Memorial Ricardo Otxoa in his honor.[269]
Luke Harrop	—	Road cyclist professional	January 13, 2002	Australia	Struck by a stolen car driven by an unlicensed driver who was out on bail at the time and who also fled the scene. Gold Coast, Brisbane, Australia during a training ride. Having severe head trauma, former champion triathlete Harrop died a day after the crash. In 2003, Australia's Gold Coast Triathlon was renamed in Harrop's memory as the Gold Coast Triathlon – Luke Harrop Memorial.[270][271][272][273][274]
David Martin	—	Road cyclist amateur	November 4, 2002	United States	Hit by a drunk driver during training[108][275]
Haruko Fujinaka	—	Mountainbike downhiller (pro)	May 17, 2003	Japan	Crashed and died during a practice run for the opening round of the 2003 NORBA National Championship Series at Big Bear Lake, California[276]
Lauri Aus	—	Road cyclist professional	July 20, 2003	Estonia	Hit by a truck driven by a drunk driver while training for the Estonian MTB (Mountain Biking) Championship[277][278]
Amy Gillett	—	Road cyclist	July 18, 2005	Australia	Head-on collision with a car in Germany (while training with her squad for the Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen which had been scheduled for the next day)[279]
Frederiek Nolf		Road cyclist	February 5, 2009	Belgium	Died in his sleep of a heart attack during the 2009 Tour of Qatar[280]
Zinaida Stahurskaya	—	Road cyclist	June 25, 2009	Belarus	Struck and killed by a speeding car while training for the Belarus national championship on a public road.[281][282]

2010 to 2020

Cyclists who died during training

Name	Image	Competitive status	Date of death	Nationality	Location of death and additional information
Jure Robič		Road cyclist	September 24, 2010	Slovenia	Died in a head-on collision with a car while descending on a narrow mountain forest road in Plavški Rovt near Jesenice, Slovenia.[283]
Carla Swart	—	Road cyclist	January 19, 2011	South Africa	Turned into the path of an oncoming truck in a bid to retrieve her cycling computer that she had just lost. Swart was a professional who had previously won nineteen individual and team cycling titles spanning four different variations of biking (cyclo-cross, mountain bike, road, and track) while on the Lees–McRae College cycling team.[284]
Carly Hibberd		Road cyclist	July 6, 2011	Australia	Hit by a car while training in Italy[285]
Victor Cabedo		Road cyclist	September 19, 2012	Spain	Died during a training ride after colliding with a vehicle[286][287]
Iñaki Lejarreta		Mountain biker	December 12, 2012	Spain	Killed in a training crash when his cycle was struck by a car[288][289]
Burry Stander		Mountain biker	January 1, 2013	South Africa	Died during a training ride after colliding with a vehicle[290]
Amy Dombroski		Cyclo-cross	October 3, 2013	United States	Hit by a truck while training in Belgium[291]
Kristof Goddaert		Road cyclist	October 18, 2014	Belgium	Killed during a training ride in Antwerp when he fell from his bike and was struck by a bus[292]
Claudio Clarindo	—	Road cyclist	January 25, 2016	Brazil	Struck by an automobile whose driver had fallen asleep, Clarindo died almost immediately after being hit.[293]
Kelly McGarry	—	Freerider	February 1, 2016	New Zealand	Died from cardiac arrest while biking on the Fernhill Loop Track in Central Otago.[294]
Ellen Watters	—	Road cyclist	December 23, 2016	Canada	Died following a collision involving her bicycle and an automobile during a training ride in Sussex, New Brunswick[295]
Michele Scarponi		Road cyclist	April 22, 2017	Italy	Died after being hit by a truck, while on a training ride in Filottrano.[296]
Jason Lowndes		Road cyclist	December 22, 2017	Australia	Struck by a car while training near Bendigo, Australia[297]
Alistair Eeckman	—	Triathlete/Duathlete	August 20, 2018	United States	Died after colliding with a line bus on a post-race recovery ride in Weyer, Austria at 2:10 pm local time, the day after racing Powerman Austria, placing 6th. Winner of the 2017 Powerman Duathlon in Panama.[298][299][300]
Ben Sonntag	—	Mountain biker	March 4, 2020	United States	Struck by a pickup truck while training near Durango, Colorado. Sonntag was a world-class athlete in multiple sports, including being a professional mountain cyclist. He had previously won elite world championships in winter triathlon, was an All-American in cross-country skiing for the University of Alaska Anchorage, and had won three individual national collegiate cycling titles while at Fort Lewis College in Durango – two collegiate cross-country bike national titles and a championship in short-track.[301][302]
Jan Riedmann	—	Road cyclist	August 2, 2020	Germany	A member of Team Auto Eder Bayern, the Under-19 team of Bora–Hansgrohe. Struck by a car while training with teammates near Sugenheim in Bavaria.[303]

2021 to present

Cyclists who died during training

Name	Image	Competitive status	Date of death	Nationality	Location of death and additional information
Daniel Pedraza Castillo	—	Road cyclist	January 25, 2021	Colombia	Hit by a public transportation bus that had reversed to pick up a passenger on the side of the road while Pedraza Castillo was doing time trial work.[304]
Ryunosuke Narikiyo	—	Track cyclist (keirin)	February 24, 2021	Japan	Collision with a truck on public road whilst on a training ride with his teammates.[159][305]
Gwen Inglis	—	Road cyclist	May 16, 2021	USA	Inglis was the 2019 US Masters road race champion in the 45-49 age group and a member of the Back Swift-Cycleton Cycling Team. She was hit by a car driven by an apparently impaired driver that veered into the bike lane while Inglis was on a training ride.[306]
Adrián Babič	—	Road cyclist	May 26, 2021	Slovakia	Babič was the champion and the vice-champion of Slovakia in the individual time trial in the under-23 category, Slovakia's junior champion in winter triathlon, and the winner of the Slovak World Cycling Cup of 2019. Competed at the 2018 World Championships. Babič was struck by a vehicle while training[307]
Desiet Kidane	—	Road cyclist	November 8, 2021	Eritrea	Kidane was struck and killed while training in Asmara. At the time of her death, the 21- year old cyclist was considered a promising talent in the World Cycling Centre programme[308]
Estela Domínguez	—	Road cyclist and cyclocross rider	February 9, 2023	Spain	Killed in a collision with a lorry at Villares de la Reina at the age of 19, Domínguez, from Valladolid and the daughter of a Giro d'Italia stage winner had been training for her first year as a professional with the Sopela team.[309]
Germán Chaves	—	Road cyclist	June 3, 2023	Colombia	Killed in a collision with a truck while training in Chocontà his hometown at the age of 28. He was training with his father when they were both struck, killing Germán instantly and his father later in hospital. Chaves was an active cyclist since 2014 and was currently with Team Sistecrédito.
Tijl De Decker		Road cyclist	August 25, 2023	Belgium	Collided with the rear of a car while training in Lier, close to his hometown Antwerp. He died at Antwerp University Hospital at the age of 22 as a result of his injuries. De Decker was an active rider for Lotto–Dstny Development Team and was set to join UCI ProTeam Lotto–Dstny for the 2024 UCI World Tour season.[310]
Sara Piffer		Road cyclist	January 24, 2025	Italy	Killed by a car that was overtaking another vehicle. Her brother was also injured.[311]

See also

• Sports portal

• Bicycle racing
• Madonna del Ghisallo
• Ghost bike
• Ride of Silence
• List of doping cases in cycling
• Cycling track tragedy at Berlin [de] - a tragic incident in which a motorized derny crashed into crowds.

Notes

1. The total includes the professional pacemakers (14) and riders (33) but does not include injuries/deaths of bystanders. On page 101 Mangan recounts some details of the infamous 1909 Friedenau (Berlin) track accident with nine spectators being killed and 52 others injured.^[4] Other sources refer to the July 18, 1909 disaster happening at the "Botanical Garden" track or Botanischer Garten track.^[5]
2. "Bert" Harris's given name was Albert Walter Allen Harris and he was nicknamed "Invincible Harris". The fastest short-distance rider in England, he was also the first Professional Cycling Champion of England and one of the most well-known athletes in his era.
3. Some sources spell Oscar Aaronson's last name as "Aronson".
4. Dangla's date of death is variously reported as June 12,^[36] June 24^[37] and June 26, 1904.^[38]
5. The reference Sport-Album der Rad-Welt" was an annual compendium of the sports-newspaper Rad-Welt or "Bike World" which included a column, "Die Toten der Rennbahn" (or "The Dead of the Racetrack") that consisted of obituaries for dead cyclists.
6. Some sources spell Käser's name as "Carl Kaeser" see "Trove"/The Sydney Mail reference.
7. Sources differ on whether the accident happened in 1902^[45] or in 1903.^[46][47]
8. The accident took place on November 14, Brecy died on November 25 after lingering for 11 days.^[50][51]
9. Piet van Nek Sr.'s name is also rendered in some sources as "Piet van Neck".
10. Some sources spell the name as "Christiaan Orlemans".
11. Pawlack is also rendered as "Georg Klein Bohrau Pawlack".
12. Per Cycling Archives, this race is also known as the "Inter Clubs Championship" and took place in Uccle, Belgium.^[105]
13. When Walter Rutt (the former world champion) wrote to the "American Bicyclist and Motorcyclist (Volume 71)" published in 1950, he referred to this race not as the actual Six-Day Race but as a 'team race that was run before' it and that this team race was of a 'A Thousand Laps' (150 km) variety.^[127]
14. There were two Berlin Six-Days races run in 1951, one in March and one in December. Van Beek died while racing the March 1951 Berlin Six-Day and Rudi Mirke died during the December Six-Day. There is some confusion in sources about which race Mirke and van Beek died in. The Berlin official visitors bureau website, for instance, has the two men involved in the same fatal collision.^[130]
15. Metze's date of death is reported in sources as being in two different months in 1952 – July 28 (CyclingArchives.Com, American Bicyclist and Motorcyclist)^[139][140] and also as May 28(Radsportseiten.net, ProCyclingStats.com)^[141][142]
16. Ockers crashed on September 29 and died two days later, thousands of people took to the streets for his funeral.^[144][146]
17. The circumstances surrounding Simpson's death were controversial. The autopsy report said that drugs (amphetamines) were found in his system but judged the overall cause of death as being a combination of heatstroke, oxygen depletion and physical exertion.^[164] The temperature that day was 45 degrees Celsius/113 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade^[165] – the heat combined with the exertion of getting up Ventoux plus riders' dehydration (since they were limited on water intake by Tour rules)^[166][167] were all contributing factors.
18. Wilcockson refers to the race as "a kermesse race at Retié".^[174]
19. Sources refer to this cyclist as Manuel Galera and as Manuel Galera Magdaleno.
20. Maneul's last name is also sometimes spelled as "Santiesteban".
21. Espinosa is also known as "José Antonio Espinosa Hernandez".
22. Espinosa's accident and death occurred during a team time trial ("el Criterium de Fuenlabrada").^[189]
23. Some sources render this cyclist's name as Saúl Morales Corral.
24. There is a 58-year gap in this List of the recorded deaths of cyclists during training – from 1936 to 1994 – because none have been found so far by the editors who have worked on this List.
25. Taylor is also known as "Edouard-Henry Taylor".
26. Some sources seem to possibly state Taylor cycled for Great Britain,^[253] but newspaper reports from the era and others state he was French.^[254][255]