“Yet another life shattered by violence on the road”, Sara Piffer, an Italian hopeful, dies when hit by a car

Sara Piffer, a 19-year-old Italian Cycling hopeful, died on Friday after being hit by a car during training, the Association of Italian Professional Cyclists (ACCPI) announced. “Our thoughts are with his family, his teammates and all those torn by pain for the umpteenth life shattered by violence on the road”wrote the ACCPI on X.

Sara Piffer was part of the GS Mendelspeck team based in Pineta di Laives, not far from Bolzano, in Trentino (north). According to initial media reports, Sara Piffer was training in the area with her brother when a 70-year-old man, who was driving in the opposite direction, hit her while overtaking another vehicle. The brother was only slightly injured, according to the same source.

Yet another traffic accident

Numerous non-competition traffic accidents involving professional cyclists have occurred in recent years. In 2017, the Italian Michele Scarponi, winner of the Giro in 2011, died at the age of 37 after being hit by a van during a training outing near his home in Filottrano (central Italy). Italy).

Five years later, another figure in Italian and world cycling, Davide Rebellin, former winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, died after being hit by a truck in Italy. In 2023, Belgian Tijl De Decker, winner of Paris-Roubaix hopefuls, died two days after violently hitting the back of a car during training. He was 22 years old.

Professional cyclists face road dangers almost daily during their training. The Colombian Egan Bernal, winner of the Tour de France in 2019, almost lost his life by crashing into a bus in 2022. And again this winter, the double Olympic champion from Paris, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, found himself at hospital with multiple fractures. While he was training alone in the northwest of Brussels, he was unable to avoid a Belgian post car, whose postwoman had suddenly opened the door as he passed.