Six German national track team riders injured after being hit by car during training ride

2024 Track World Championships: the German men's team pursuit squad in action
2024 Track World Championships: the German men's team pursuit squad in action (Image credit: Getty Images)

Six riders from the German National track team needed hospital treatment after a car collided with their training group during a ride in Mallorca.

According to a statement issued by the team, some of the riders were badly hurt and suffered fractures. However, medics who went to the scene of the incident and subsequent hospital checkups reported none of the injuries are life-threatening. 

Initial reports in multiple sources of how the mass crash happened suggested that the driver, said to be an elderly man, collided with the riders after he failed to see them. 

It also closely follows the death of an Italian Continental rider, Sara Piffer, last Friday, when she was out training and was reportedly struck by the driver of a vehicle.  

Although each rider's specific injuries have not yet been published, two of those caught up in the incident were named by the Federation as Benjamin Boos and Bruno Kessler, both bronze medallists in last year's World Track Championships in the team pursuit. 

The riders were part of a bigger training group which had just left their hotel in Palma, the island's capital on Monday morning, when the incident happened on a quiet backroad near an industrial estate, local newspaper Ultima Hora reports. Their bikes were also reportedly destroyed in the crash.

The German riders were preparing for next month's European Track Championships, set to take place on February 12-16 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium and had planned to leave the island on Thursday.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.