Sara Piffer, hope of 19 -year -old Italian Cycling, died on Friday after being overthrown by a car during training, the association of Italian professional cycling runners (APCPI) announced.
“Our thoughts go to his family, his team companions and all those torn apart by pain for the umpteenth life broken by violence on the road“, wrote the ACCPI on X. Sara Piffing was part of the GS Mendelspect team based in Pineta Di Laives, not far from Bolzano, in the Trentino (North).
His brother injured slightly in the accident
According to first information from the media, Sara Piffing trained in the region with her brother when a 70 -year -old man, who was rolling in the opposite direction, struck him by doubling another vehicle. The brother was only slightly injured, according to the same source. Many traffic accidents outside competition involving professional cyclists have occurred in recent years.
In 2017, Italian Michele Scarponi, winner of the Giro in 2011, died at the age of 37 after being struck by a van during a training trip near his home in Filottrano (center of the ' Italy). Five years later, another figure in Italian and world cycling, Davide Rebellin, former winner in particular of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, died after being overturned by a truck in Italy.
-In 2023, the Belgian Tijl de Decker, winner of Paris-Roubaix Espoirs, died two days after having violently struck the back of a car during a training. He was 22 years old. Professional cyclists face the dangers of the road almost daily during their training. Egan Bernal, winner of the Tour de France in 2019, almost lost his life by getting on a bus in 2022.
And again this winter, the double Olympic champion of Paris, Remco Evenepoel, found himself in the hospital with multiple fractures. While he trained alone in the northwest of Brussels, he could not avoid a car from the Belgian Post, whose factor had suddenly opened the door in her way.
