GERA, Germany — Australian rider Amy Gillett was killed and five teammates injured when a car crashed into the group during a training ride for a women's cycling race.
Organizers canceled Tuesday's first stage following the accident and instead held a memorial service. All cyclists attended, laying wreaths and lighting candles at the site of the accident.
Police said the driver lost control of the car and swerved onto the oncoming lane Monday. The 18-year-old was seriously injured, and police have been unable to question her. Authorities are investigating whether to press manslaughter charges caused by negligent driving, prosecutor Ralf Mohrmann said.
The Australian team had a safety car behind the group, as is customary, but not in front, organizers said.
Louise Yaxley and Alexis Rhodes are in a "critical situation" at the intensive care unit of the Jena University Clinic and on respirators, spokeswoman Stefanie Hahn said.
Hahn said Yaxley and Rhodes faced at least a month in the hospital. They were flown to Jena by helicopters after first being treated at separate hospitals in Leipzig and Zwickau.
Two other riders, Katie Brown and Kate Nichols, sustained multiple fractures but were in a less serious condition and could be released in two weeks, Hahn said.
The fifth injured cyclist, Lorian Graham, was hospitalized in Gera in a stable condition and is expected to be moved to Jena.
Organizers said the race will start Wednesday and run through the east German state of Thuringia.
The accident happened near Zeulenroda, south of Leipzig, where the six-member Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) women's road cycling squad was training for the Tour.
"The team was having a (ride) around the course . . . a driver lost control of a car and careened into them," said Cycling Australia spokeswoman Gennie Sheer.
The 29-year-old Gillett was a member of Ballarat Cycling Club in Australia's southern Victoria state, but had been based with the AIS women's squad in Italy for the European season.
Competing under her maiden name, Amy Safe, she was a member of the Australian women's eight rowing team that placed fifth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She later married former world champion rower Simon Gillett, before switching to cycling in 2000.
She was a member of the Australian World Cup cycling teams in 2002 and 2003 and was a candidate for Australia's Commonwealth Games squad next March.