This year marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic death of Fabio Casartelli in the Tour de France. The young Italian rider had been descending the Col de Portet-d’Aspet, when he crashed and struck his head against a concrete block alongside the road. He suffered severe head injuries and lost consciousness. Doctors arrived quickly on the scene.
He was taken away by helicopter to be flown to a nearby hospital. However, he stopped breathing and after a number of resuscitation attempts, he was declared dead. He was only 24 and he left behind a wife and a 4 month-old son.
Three years previously, he had taken his biggest ever victory when he won gold in the 1992 Olympic Games Road Race. Amongst the favourites for the race had been the USA’s Lance Armstrong, Italy’s Davide Rebellin and Erik Dekker of The Netherlands.
Armstrong and Rebellin were heavily marked that day and unable to get clear. Instead, on the penultimate lap, a trio of riders broke clear which included Dekker, Casartelli and the Latvian Dainis Ozols.
They never built up a great lead, but did manage to stay away. Coming into the final two hundred metres of the uphill finish, Casartelli had enough left in the tank to pull clear and finish a second ahead of Dekker, with Ozols taking bronze two seconds further down. Erik Zabel won the bunch sprint for fourth, 35 seconds later.
“I am pleased because I thought I would get the bronze,” said Casartelli afterwards, “My tactics consisted of having a maximum degree of concentration on the penultimate lap.”
Casartelli turned pro for the Ariostea team the following year where he won a stage of Settimana Bergamasca, which would turn out to be the only win of his short professional career.
Here’s a video of his Olympics win in 1992.
