Veteran Italian cyclist killed in collision with van while training
Star had come fourth in Tour of the Alps competition
ROME // Veteran Italian cyclist Michele Scarponi was killed yesterday after colliding with a van while training on his bike, his Astana team said.
“This is a tragedy too big to be written,” Astana said, paying tribute to the 37-year-old who won the Giro d’Italia in 2011. The crash happened on a crossroad near his home in central Italy. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
Police said the vehicle’s driver did not see Scarponi.
The cycling star, whose professional career began in 2002, was in the twilight of his career but proved his enduring quality on Monday when he took his first victory in four years in the opening stage of the Tour of the Alps.
He outsprinted Briton Geraint Thomas and Thibaut Pinot of France to claim the early lead of the race, a key warm-up event ahead of next month’s Giro d’Italia, the first of the year’s Grand Tours.
Scarponi was gearing up for another tilt at the Giro, which starts on May 5 in Sardinia, when the collision occurred in Filottrano, in Ancona province.
He was set to lead the Astana team at the showpiece after injury to Fabio Aru.
“Immense tragedy. There are no words,” Aru tweeted.
Scarponi won the 2011 Giro. The Italian was suspended for doping for 18 months between 2007 and 2008.
Astana said Scarponi had gone home after finishing fourth on Friday in the Tour of the Alps.
“He was a real milestone and a landmark for everyone in the Astana Pro Team,” it said. Scarponi’s death highlights the dangers faced by professional cyclists training on the road.
In January last year, six riders from the Giant-Alpecin team, including Frenchman Warren Barguil and John Degenkolb of Germany, were seriously injured after being hit by a car during a training trip to Spain.
Two months later, Frenchman Romain Guyot, a young cyclist with the Vendee U team, died after being struck on his bike.