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Cyclist Samuele Privit will have died of the injuries he suffered in an accident on Wednesday during the first stage of the Aosta Valle tour in Italy, his team announced. He was 19 years old.
Drive will have struck a retarder, lost control of his bike and hit his head as he hit a barrier.
He crashed on a descent about 35 kilometers from arrival in Aosta at a speed of almost 70 kilometers per hour, according to Italian media.
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Samuele will private of Italy and the Jayco Alula team participate in the 39th Interazional Settimana Coppi e Bartali 2025, stage 4, 150.4 km from Brisighnella to Brisighnella Al Csena on March 28, 2025, in Brisighlla, Italy. (Dario Belingheri / Getty Images)
He would have lost his helmet in the process.
The organizers of the race said that the circumstances of the accident were “still clear and were under investigation by the public security authorities”.
Privitera was a member of the Hagens Berman Jayco team. The director of the team, Axel Merckx, published a statement on the death of the adolescent.
“Samuele was and will always be the life and personality of this team,” said Merckx. “This team has always been a small family, and moments like this are unimaginable.
“He was irreplaceable. His joy, his mind, his kindness have always been a lively light for the room or the race in which he was at this moment. Losing it is devastating beyond words.”
The Jayco Alula team mourns the death of the Italian cyclist Samuele will privilege before the start of the twelfth stage of the Tour de France in Hautacam, France, Thursday July 17, 2025. (AP photo / Thibault Camus)
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Tour de France Riders took a moment to applaud for a minute during the 12th stage of the race Thursday in honor of Privitera.
“It’s really sad to lose another young talent today. It’s devastating,” said the favorite of the Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar, before Thursday’s scene. “This is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, I think, and the risk that we sometimes take is too far. But I am really really sad for all his family. That he rests in peace.”
Valle d’Aosta’s visit was suspended on Thursday and will resume on Friday.
“This news leaves us shocked and forces us to think even more decisively about how to make our races safer,” said the president of the Italian cycling federation Cordiano Dagnoni in a press release. “The Federation established a commission some time ago to develop proposals on this subject, and we constantly update the regulations each year to ensure that such incidents are no longer happening.
Ben O’Connor of Australia has a group of mourning after the death of the Italian cyclist Samuele will privacy, in Hautacam, France, Thursday July 17, 2025. (AP photo / Thibault Camus)
“We must intensify our efforts in this direction. It is an obligation that we owe above all to our young people, to our clubs and to our entire movement.”
