Tom Ewart Smith
SIX members of the German national track cycling team were involved in a car crash on Monday morning near Mallorca airport, suffering serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The specific injuries have not been identified, but reports indicate that the athletes have sustained broken and fractured bones.
The team was in Mallorca for a training camp ahead of the European Track Championship in Belgium, which will take place from February 12-16.
In an official statement, German Cycling named the injured men as Benjamin Boos, Tobias Buck-Gramcko, Bruno Kessler, Max-David Briese, Moritz Augenstein, and Louis Gentzik.
Boos and Kessler, the latter only 19 years old, won bronze in the team pursuit at the 2024 Track World Championships, held in Denmark.
Buck-Gramcko, a former World Junior Champion, also has a European bronze medal to his name.
The accident occurred just 2.7 kilometres after the group left their hotel.
The cyclists were struck by a car driven by an 89-year-old man.
According to police, the driver was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but admitted that he was distracted and did not see the group.
It happened on the Ma-19a stretch of road near the airport, where the speed limit is 100 km/h.
The collision was head-on and the team’s national coach, Lucas Schadlich, witnessed it from the safehaven of his own car.
Another fortunate team member, Felix Gross, also avoided the crash as he began training later and arrived at the incident’s scene after it happened.
The serious news adds to the growing list of tragic accidents involving cyclists.
On Friday, January 24, 19-year-old Italian cyclist Sara Piffer was killed in a training accident in Trentino, Italy, when a car tried to overtake them.
Piffer made her pro debut last season and in 2023 she finished 18th in the junior road race at the World Championships.
