Image | Name | Competitive status | Date of death | Nationality | Notes |
---|
— | Pierre Froget | Track cyclist | August 21, 1894 |
France | Velodrome of Vichy. Crash while tandem racing as a track cyclist. Died 6 days later at the age of 21, was the first death in a cycling accident on a French track.[4] |
— | AW "Bert" Harris | Track cyclist (professional) | April 21, 1897 |
United Kingdom | Known as "Bert Harris" or "Invincible Harris", he was the fastest short-distance rider in England, the first Professional Cycling Champion of England and was one of the most well-known athletes of his day. His last and fatal race was held at Aston on Easter Monday of 1897 where his 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, and tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Leicester for his funeral procession.[5][6][7][8][9][10][Note 3] |
— | Oscar Aaronson[Note 4] | Track cyclist | December 22, 1900 |
Sweden | Injured during December 16, 1900 competitors' crash at the New York City/Madison Square Garden Six-Day Race.[11][12][13] Died on the 22nd from aftereffects of crash, from exhaustion and pneumonia.[14] |
| Harry Elkes | Track cyclist | May 30, 1903 |
United States | Charles River Track, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[15][16][17] Elkes held the world record for "paced-cycle racing" during most of his career and just prior to his fatal accident had achieved a new 5 Miles World Record, going that distance in 6 minutes, 12 1/5 seconds.[15] Marshall Taylor in his autobiography called Elkes "one of the greatest middle-distance riders that ever pedalled a bicycle."[18] |
| Edouard Taylor[Note 5] | Track cyclist | 1903[17][Note 6] |
France | Aubervilliers, France. In 1899 Taylor held a National (Stayers) Championship of France and in 1900 he was 3rd at the European Championships, 2nd at the World Championships and also beat Henry Elkes by 300 metres in a 50-mile race.[19] In his last year of competition he placed 3rd at the World Stayers Championship.[20][21] |
| Alfred Görnemann | | October 11, 1903 |
German Empire | Dresden track[22] |
— | Pilack | Track cyclist, pacemaker | June 16, 1904 |
German Empire ? | [22][23] |
— | Paul Dangla | Track cyclist | June 18, 1904 |
France | 1903 World Record-holder (Track), Dresden track[1][24] France, track cyclist[Note 7][25][26] |
— | Karl Käser | Track cyclist | August 14, 1904 |
German Empire | Plauen track[27][28] |
| George Leander | Track cyclist | August 23, 1904 |
United States | [17][29] |
— | Charles Albert Brécy | Track cyclist | November 25, 1904 |
France | Parc des Princes velodrome,[30] track cyclist[Note 8] |
— | Hubert Sevenich | Track cyclist | May 7, 1905 |
German Empire | [31][32] |
— | Willy Schmitter | Track cyclist | September 18, 1905 |
German Empire | European Championship, Leipzig track,[33] track cyclist, September 18, 1905, European Championship[34] |
— | Gustav Freudenberg | Track cyclist | April 29, 1906 |
German Empire | [35][36] |
— | Richard Huhndorf | Track cyclist (amateur) | July 22, 1906 |
German Empire | [37][38] |
— | Charles Peguy | Track cyclist | June 9, 1907 |
France | [39] |
— | Louis Mettling | Track cyclist | June 21, 1907 |
United States | [40][41] |
— | Josef Schwarzer | Pace maker | August 30, 1907 |
German Empire | Düsseldorf track[42] |
— | Moritz Hübner | Track cyclist (amateur) | October 13, 1907 |
German Empire | [43][44] |
— | Gustav Schadebrodt | Track cyclist | October 22, 1907 |
German Empire | [45] |
— | Ernst Wolf | Pace maker | October 29, 1907 |
German Empire | [46] |
— | Tim Johnson | Track cyclist | April 24, 1907 |
United Kingdom | [47] |
| Karel Verbist | Track cyclist | July 21, 1909 |
Belgium | [48] Bruxelles track. Verbist collided with his pacemaker's (Constant Ceurremans') motorcycle.[49][50]
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."[51] 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[52] |
— | Hans Bachmann | Pace maker | 1913 |
German Empire | Velodrome Hall [53] |
— | Hans Lange | Track cyclist | 1913 |
German Empire | Velodrome Hall[53] |
— | August Kraft | Track cyclist | July 25, 1913 |
German Empire | Strasbourg, France[54] |
| Richard Scheuermann | Track cyclist | September 8, 1913 |
German Empire | Cologne track. 100 kilometer event. 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.[55][56] 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[57]) but he recovered from his injuries and was involved in the cycling world for many years afterwards.[58] See de:Emil Meinhold (Emil Meinhold article in German Wikipedia) |
— | Gus Lawson | Pace maker | September 8, 1913 |
United States | Cologne track. 100 kilometer event.[56] (See Richard Scheuermann 'Notes' above.) |
— | Max Hansen | Track cyclist | October 12, 1913 |
German Empire | Berlin Velodrome Stadium[53] |
— | Piet van Nek Sr. | Track cyclist | April 14, 1914 |
Netherlands | Leipzig track[59] |
— | Willy Hamann | Track cyclist | July 21, 1914 |
German Empire | Treptow track.The accident occurred on July 15, Hamann died six days later in hospital.[60] |
— | Max Bauer | Pace maker | 1917 |
German Empire | Treptow track[61] |
— | Jacob Esser | Track cyclist | July 8, 1917 |
German Empire | Düsseldorf Germany track[62][63] |
| Louis Darragon | Track cyclist | April 28, 1918 |
France | Vélodrome d'Hiver Paris[64] |
| Peter Günther | Track cyclist | October 7, 1918 |
German Empire | Düsseldorf.[65] Guenther died the day after an October 6 accident involving his collision with his pacemaker's motorcycle after the motorcycle's rear tire burst.[66] |
— | Hans Schneider | Track cyclist | January 1920 |
Weimar Republic | [67] |
— | Emanuel Kudela | Track cyclist | September 22, 1920 |
Weimar Republic | Olympia track Berlin[68] |
— | Christian Oorlemans | Pace maker | August 22, 1922 |
Netherlands | Amsterdam track[69] |
— | Walter Ebert | Track cyclist | June 1, 1924 |
Weimar Republic | Magdeburg track[70] |
— | Gustave Ganay | Track cyclist | August 23, 1926 |
France | Stayer. Died from a fall at the Parc des Princes.[71] The accident was immortalized by Ernest Hemingway in A Movable 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."[72] |
— | Franz Krupkat | Track cyclist | June 1, 1927 |
Weimar Republic | Leipzig track[73] |
— | Ernst Feja | Track cyclist | June 1, 1927 |
Weimar Republic | [74] |
— | Constant Ceurremans | Pace maker | June 18, 1931 |
Belgium /
Netherlands | Was also involved in Karel (Charles) Verbist's fatal crash in 1909.[49][75] |
— | Werner Krüger | Pace maker | July 21, 1931 |
Weimar Republic | Kruger died after a fall on the Cologne-Riehl track during a stayer race, while riding as a pacemaker for Emil Thollembeek.[76] |
— | Georg Pawlack[Note 9] | Track cyclist | June 10, 1933 |
Nazi Germany | Pawlack was run over by a pacemaker after his bicycle slipped on a rain-soaked track.[77] |
| Georges Lemaire | | September 29, 1933 |
Belgium | Belgian club championship, Uccle, Belgium [78][Note 10] |
— | Emil Richli | | May 13, 1934 |
Switzerland |
Switzerland track championships. Track cyclist[79] |
— | Francisco Cepeda | | July 14, 1935 |
Spain | Tour de France. Died while making the Col du Galibier descent[80] |
— | Len Johnson | | 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.[81] |
— | Stefan Veger | | November 1936 |
Netherlands | Track Gent[82] |
| André Raynaud | | March 1937 |
France | Antwerp Sportpaleis[49][83] |
— | Adrian Buttafocchi | | July 6, 1937 |
France | Col Esteret, Grand Prix d'Antibes. Crash with a truck during race[84] |
— | Hefty Stuart | | December 9, 1938 |
Australia | Riding in a motor pacing event, Stuart’s front tyre blew out, causing him to fall and he was run over by a following pacing motorcycle. Stuart died in hospital two weeks later [85] |
| Jean Alavoine | | July 18, 1943 |
France | Died during a veteran race in Argenteuil.[86][87] |
— | Richard Depoorter | | June 16, 1948 |
Switzerland | Crashed into a tunnel wall on a "descent of the Sustenpas near Bern"[88] during the Tour of Switzerland, died onsite or shortly thereafter of his injuries.[89][90][91] |
| Léon Level | | March 26, 1949 |
France | "Parc des princes" track, Paris (track cyclist) [92] |
— | Paul Kroll | | November 8, 1949 |
Germany | Berlin "1000 laps", Funkturm track[93][Note 11] |
— | Gerard ("Gerrit") van Beek | | March 15, 1951 |
Netherlands | Berlin Six Days. Died of a fatal skull fracture suffered during race.[94][95] |
— | Camille Danguillaume | | June 26, 1951 |
France | Killed in collision with press motorcycle during Critérium International (Championship of France)[96][97][98] |
— | Serse Coppi | | June 29, 1951 |
Italy | Crashed near the end of the 1951 Tour of Piedmont (aka "Tour du Piedmont" and "Giro del Piemonte"). Finished race but then died on June 29, 1951.[99][100] |
— | Rudi Mirke | | December 10, 1951 |
Germany | Berlin Six Day. Died after falling during the race.[101][Note 12] |
— | Orfeo Ponsin | | May 20, 1952 |
Italy | Giro d'Italia[102] |
— | Erich Metze | | May 28, 1952[Note 13] |
Germany | [103] |
| Stan Ockers | | October 1, 1956 |
Belgium | 1955 World Champion (Road Race) track race at the Sportpaleis Antwerp[104][105][Note 14] |
— | Russell Mockridge | | September 13, 1958 |
Australia | Tour of Gippsland[107][108][Note 15] |
— | Knud Enemark Jensen | | September 1960 |
Denmark | 1960 Summer Olympic Games. The first competitor's death to occur during the modern Olympic era, Jensen collapsed during a 100-kilometer team time trial, 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/93 degrees Fahrenheit and Jensen's post-accident care (being kept in a "hot military tent"), could have been probable contributing factors.[109][110][111][112][113][114][115] |
— | Alessandro Fantini | | May 5, 1961 |
Italy | Died after a crash at the end of the sixth stage of the 1961 Tour of Germany. |
| Tom Simpson | | July 13, 1967 |
United Kingdom | Tour de France.[116][117] 1965 World Road Race Champion,[118][119][Note 16] |
— | Valentin Uriona | | July 30, 1967 |
Spain | Spanish Championship [120][121] |
— | José Samyn | | August 28, 1969 |
France | Zingem, Belgium [122] |
— | Radames Treviño[123] | | April 12, 1970 |
Mexico | Crashed during a regional race between Pachuca and Mexico City[124] |
| Jean-Pierre Monseré | | March 15, 1971 |
Belgium | 1970 World Champion. Grand Prix de Retie.[125][126][Note 17][127] |
— | Manuel Galera | | February 14, 1972 |
Spain | Tour of Andalusia[128][129] |
— | Graeme Jose | | 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.[130] |
— | Juan Manuel Santisteban[Note 18] | | May 21, 1976 |
Spain | Giro d'Italia. Died as a result of injuries when his head struck a crash barrier.[80][102] |
| Karl Kaminski | | August 10, 1978 |
East Germany | Leipzig[131] |
| Joaquim Agostinho | | May 10, 1984 |
Portugal | During the Tour of Algarve.[132] Died ten days after colliding with a dog who had run onto the race-course.[133] |
— | Emilio Ravasio | | May 28, 1986 |
Italy | Giro d'Italia[102] |
— | Vicente Mata | | February 17, 1987 |
Spain | Trofeo Luis Puig[134] Died after colliding with a car during race. |
— | Michel Goffin | | February 27, 1987 |
Belgium | Tour du Haut-Var in Marseilles France.[135][136] Goffin crashes and, after spending six days in a coma, dies from his injuries.[134] |
— | Connie Meijer | | August 17, 1988 |
Netherlands | A criterium in the Netherlands[137] |
| Fabio Casartelli | | July 18, 1995 |
Italy | Tour de France.[138][139][140] Casartelli was the reigning Olympic Champion at the time of his crash and subsequent death.[134] |
— | José Antonio Espinosa[Note 19] | | November 1996 |
Spain | Fuenlabrada[141][142][Note 20] |
— | Manuel Sanroma | | June 19, 1999 |
Spain | Volta a Catalunya[143] |
— | Saúl Morales | | February 28, 2000 |
Spain | Tour of Argentina[144] |
— | Nicole Reinhart | Road and track cyclist (professional) | September 17, 2000 |
United States | Arlington Massachusetts circuit race[145] |
— | Andrey Kivilev | Road cyclist (professional) | March 12, 2003 |
Kazakhstan | Paris–Nice[146] |
— | Brett Malin | Road cyclist (amateur) | June 17, 2003 |
United States | Race Across America[147][148] |
— | Juan Barrero | Road cyclist (amateur) | June 11, 2004 |
Colombia | Vuelta a Colombia ("Tour of Colombia")[149] |
— | Tim Pauwels | | September 26, 2004 |
Belgium | A cyclo-cross race in Belgium[150] |
— | Alessio Galletti | Road cyclist (professional) | June 15, 2005 |
Italy | Subida al Naranco[151][152] |
— | Bob Breedlove | Road cyclist (amateur) | June 25, 2005 |
United States | Race Across America[147] |
— | 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.[153][154] |
— | Bruno Neves | Road cyclist (professional) | May 11, 2008 |
Portugal | Classica de Amarante.[155] Neves' collapse from heart failure caused him to crash during the race.[156][157][158] |
— | Thomas Casarotto | | September 10, 2010 |
Italy | During the Giro del Friuli Venezia Giulia[159] at Pesariis,[160] Casarotto hit the wing mirror of a SUV parked on the course[160] and then crashed. He died September 15, 2010 of head injuries and trauma.[161] |
| Wouter Weylandt | Road cyclist (professional) | May 9, 2011 |
Belgium | Fatal Crash on the Passo del Bocco during the third stage of the 2011Giro d'Italia[162] |
— | Wouter Dewilde | | March 1, 2013 |
Belgium | [163] |
— | Junior Heffernan | Road cyclist (amateur) | March 3, 2013 |
Ireland | Died after collision with a car during the Severn Bridge Road Race in Gloucestershire.[164] |
— | Jeanné Nell | Track cyclist | February 11, 2014 |
South Africa | Died in Cape Town, South Africa, during a keirin race.[165] |
— | Annefleur Kalvenhaar | Mountainbiker | August 23, 2014 |
Netherlands | Died in Grenoble, France, due to an accident during a UCI World Cup XCE race in Méribel, France.[166] |
— | Will Olson | Enduro | August 2, 2015 |
United States | Died in Crested Butte during an Enduro World Series race.[167] |
| Antoine Demoitié | Road cyclist (professional)
Wanty–Groupe Gobert | March 27, 2016 |
Belgium | Died in hospital in Lille, due to injuries sustained in an accident 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.[168] |
| Daan Myngheer | Road cyclist (professional)
Roubaix–Lille Métropole | March 28, 2016 |
Belgium | Died in hospital two days after suffering a heart attack during first stage of Criterium International[169][170] |
— | Randall Fox | Road cyclist
(collegiate cyclist) | March 29, 2016 |
United States | Died following a crash during a collegiate road race. He lost control of his bike on a descent and collided with a guardrail.[171][172] |
— | 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.[173] |
— | Diego Andrés Suta Robayo | Road cyclist (amateur) | August 30, 2016 |
Colombia | Suta, who was competing in the Vuelta de la Juventud for the first time, was descending the Alto de Daza just 12 km into the 162 km stage 2 when he crashed on a turn and suffered fatal head injuries.[174] |
| Bahman Golbarnezhad | Road cyclist
Iranian Paralympic | September 17, 2016 |
Iran | 2016 Summer Paralympics. Died after suffering a cardiac arrest on the way to hospital after his head injury during a collision with a rock midway through the race in Pontal, Rio de Janeiro, during the C4 road race of the Paralympics.[175][176] |
| Dejan Maric | Road cyclist (amateur) | September 25, 2016 |
Serbia | Died during the Wuyi Mountain cycling race in southeast Chinas Fujian province.[177][178] |
| Eslam Nasser Zaki | Road and 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.[179] 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.[180] |
| 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.[181] |
| Casey Saunders | Road cyclist (professional) | June 25, 2017 |
United States | Died after crashing in the Pro-1-2 criterium at Tour of Kansas City.[182] |
| Mathieu Riebel | Road cyclist (professional)
Shell Pacific team | October 20, 2017 |
France | Died instantly in the collision which happened on the descent of the Col de La Pirogue during Stage 9 of the Tour de Nouvelle-Calédonie (fr).[183] |