The death of Fabio Casartelli during a mountain descent in the Tour de France is rekindling debate on the use of helmets in the high-speed sport.
Traveling at a speeds approaching 55 mph, Casartelli fell on a steep curve during the descent from the Col de Portet d'Aspet in the Pyrenees during the Tour's 15th stage Tuesday.Riders held a minute of silence before today's stage from Tarbes to Pau. The Motorola team today began with black ribbons on their sleeve in memory of Casartelli.
The riders have donated all their prize money from Tuesday's stage - about $45,000 - which the directors of the Tour de France matched to give to Casartelli's family. He is survived by a wife and four-month-old son.
The 24-year-old, who rode for the American team Motorola, was not wearing a helmet and appeared to hit a concrete block on the side of the road.
Despite the fact Casartelli died from severe head injuries, the chief medical officer of the Tour, Dr. Gerard Porte, doubted whether a helmet would have saved the cyclist.
Riders complain that hard helmets are heavy and make them sweat. Light, leather helmets were seen as a likely compromise, but not all riders are in favor of them.
Chris Boardman recognizes the safety issue. The British world record holder fell in the prologue on the first day of this year's Tour de France, breaking an ankle and wrist.
"It's going to raise the whole issue again," Boardman said.
Motorola team general manager Jim Ochowicz said the Motorola team decided to continue the tour as a tribute to Casartelli.
"The team thought that was what he'd want. It didn't require much discussion."
Tuesday's stage was won by Richard Virenque of France. He took the lead early in the day and won by 1 minute, 17 seconds over Italy's Claudio Chiappucci.
Miguel Indurain, seeking his fifth consecutive Tour victory, finished sixth, 2:34 behind, with Switzerland's Alex Zulle right behind. Indurain held onto a 2:46 overall lead ahead of Zulle.