One of the leading American cyclists in this year's Junior Tour of Ireland has been killed out training in the US as he prepared for the World Championships in Glasgow. Magnus White had come to Ireland just a few weeks ago to ride the Junior Tour and finished 5th in the final general classification.
The Junior Tour of Ireland organisers said everyone involved in the race was "deeply saddened" to hear the news of White's death. The event had been his first ever stage race and he took to social media after it to say how pleased he was with how it had gone and how much he was looking forward to his next goal at the upcoming World Championships.
He was a rider who looked destined for a very strong career as he was a talented road, MTB and cyclocross rider. Indeed, he was due to represent the USA in the junior mountain bike race at the Worlds, and had been due to pull on the stars and stripes jersey for that race on August 10th.
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He was already an established member of the USA Cycling junior national set-up, including racing cyclocross in Europe as part of the national squad last winter and riding the cyclocross Worlds in the US last year and in the Netherlands at the start of this year. He also won the US junior men's cyclocross title in 2021.
The 17-year-old rode the Junior Tour as part of the Boulder Junior Cycling team and it was in Boulder, Colorado, yesterday that he lost his life when struck by a driver in a car. USA Cycling has in a statement confirmed the sad news of his death on his pre-Worlds training ride crash.
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"White fell in love with cycling at an early age through Boulder Junior Cycling," USA Cycling said. "He was a rising star in the off-road cycling scene and his passion for cycling was evident through his racing and camaraderie with his teammates and local community.
"He won the 2021 Junior 17-18 cyclocross national championships, then went on to compete with the USA Cycling national team for a full season of European cyclocross racing and closed out the year at the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
"He proudly represented the US and the Boulder community at another Cyclocross World Championships in January of 2023 in Hoogerheide. The summer of 2023 marked a new chapter for White, where he earned a spot on the mountain bike World Championships team.
"We offer our heartfelt condolences to the White family, his teammates, friends, and the Boulder community during this incredibly difficult time. We ride for Magnus."
He is survived by his parents Jill and Michael and his brother Eero. A GoFundMe campaign has also been set up, with the money intended to be used to honour his memory, and his love for cycling, in the future.
