A team mate last year of Remco Evenepoel, now 19-year-old Stefan Loos has been killed in a race after he and others were sent the wrong way. Belgian police are investigating.
A 19-year-old Belgian cyclist has died from injuries he sustained in a crash while racing in his home country on Sunday.
Stefan Loos of the Acrog-Pauwels Sauzen-Balen team was killed while riding the Alfred Gadenne Memorial.
Reports in Belgium suggest a large number of riders, about 30 in total, were sent the wrong way.
They went straight through a junction when they should have turned right in the first hour of racing.
And because they were off the course without realising it, they raced through another intersection just as the driver of a van was coming the other way.
Loos and two other riders crashed with the van and sadly the teenager later died due to head injuries.
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Stefan Loos was a team mate last year of world junior road race and TT champion Remco Evenepoel.
#bikenews: Belçika Hainaut Melles'deki yarış sırasında bir teslimat aracı yanlış yönlendirilen 40 kişilik gruba daldı. 19 yaşındaki gelecek vadeden Health Mate Ladies Team takımından Stef Loos yaşamını yitirdi. Olayla ilgili soruşturma sürüyor #bisiklet,#procycling,#cycling pic.twitter.com/cqLWAaUjjW
— Mehmet Büyükarı (@MehmetBykar) March 18, 2019
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One of the managers at the deceased rider’s team, Jef Roberts, confirmed the fatality.
“Very tragic news,” he said. “Our rider Stef Loos, a promising rider with the team, was the victim of a severe accident.
“Together with two other riders, Stef was hit by a van and suffered serious injuries. The group of three riders was sent incorrectly by a signalman.
"At a crossroads that were not secured, they were driven into the side by a van. Stef had been with us for years and was very popular.
"Moreover, it is not the first serious accident with one of our riders. We are all in mourning at the moment."
The crash occurred at about 2.30pm on Sunday in a race for elite riders looking to turn pro.
The dead teenager was from Dessel in Belgium. He was racing near Dottenijs, close to the Belgian-French border, when he crashed.
He was taken to hospital from the scene but his injuries were too severe and his death was later confirmed.
Reports in Belgium have said his head injuries had proved fatal, though an inquiry has only just begun.
Lotto-Soudal development team rider Ruben Apers was another who crashed. He was badly injured, suffering a broken thigh bone and collar bone.
It appears while the race was only 25km into the action, it had already split and riders towards the back of the field went off course.
As a result they were racing on roads without marshals on intersections. A police investigation is underway.
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