Michele Scarponi, Former Giro D'Italia Winner, Dies after Collision with Van
22 Apr 201712:03 PM
Michele Scarponi, Former Giro D'Italia Winner, Dies after Collision with Van
The Guardian

The Italian cyclist Michele Scarponi has died at the age of 37 after being struck by a van while training.

 

Scarponi, who won the Giro d’Italia in 2011, had returned home to Filottrano in the province of Ancona, after finishing fourth during the Tour of the Alps in Trento on Friday afternoon.

 

Team Astana announced the rider’s death in a statement on Saturday morning, saying it was a “tragedy too big to be written”. It went on: “Born on 25 September 1979, he left a wife and two kids. Michele ended fourth in the Tour of Alps yesterday afternoon in Trento. Then he went home in Filottrano (Ancona) by car with his masseur and was home in the evening to his family. This morning Michele went out on his bike for early-morning training and there the tragedy happened.

 

“We left a great champion and a special guy, always smiling in every situation, he was a real mile stone and a landmark for everyone in the Astana Pro Team. The Astana Pro Team clings to the Michele family in this incredibly painful moment of sorrow and mourning.”

 

Photo: Luk Benies/AFP/Getty Images