Tadej Pogacar dedicated his memorable victory on stage 12 of the Tour de France to Samuele Privitera, the young cyclist who died during a race in Italy this week.
Privitera, 19, crashed during the opening stage of the Giro della Valle d’Aosta in the Italian Alps. The Hagens Berman Jayco rider reportedly came off his bike during a descent, losing his helmet and colliding with a gate. He was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
After pulling away from the rest of his rivals to win atop the towering Hautacam climb in the Pyrenees on Thursday, reclaiming the yellow jersey in the process, Pogacar paid tribute to Privitera.
“This stage can go for Samuele, to all his family,” he said. “It was really sad, it was the first thing I read in the morning, and I was thinking in the last kilometre about him and how tough this sport can be, and how much pain it can cause.”
Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the crash.
“Samuele was and always will be the life and personality of this team,” Axel Merckx, the owner of Hagens Berman Jayco, said in a statement. “This team has always been a small family, and moments like this are unimaginable.
“He was irreplaceable. His joy, his spirit, his kindness, was always a bright light to whatever room or race that he was in at that moment. To lose him is devastating beyond words.”
Merckx said he was “struggling to express the sadness” he felt, but was grateful for the joy Privitera brought to the team.
“He loved the bike, he loved the camera, he loved to smile, he loved to laugh, but most of all he loved his family and his teammates. Rest in peace, Samuele. You will always be part of this team.”
Pogacar finished more than two minutes ahead of his main rival Jonas Vingegaard, and now leads the Dane by three and a half minutes at the top of the general classification.
