Former under 23 world champion Dmytro Grabovskyy dies at 31

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Former under 23 world road race champion Dmytro Grabovskyy has died following a heart attack according to Belgian broadcaster Sporza. Grabovskyy, who endured a brief but troubled professional career, was just 31 years of age.

Grabovskyy, who was born in Simferopol, Ukraine, made his name with victory in the under 23 men’s road race at the 2005 World Championships. That same year, he became European champion in the time trial discipline. Grabovskyy did not turn professional for more than a year after that victory when he signed with Quick-Step-Innergetic, after riding as a stagiaire with them in 2006.

He spent two years with the team before moving to the ISD-Neri team in 2009 for another two-year stint. His time as a professional had failed to live up to the promise his under-23 title had shown and in 2010, Grabovskyy spoke out about his battle with alcohol. The Ukrainian said that through boredom in his neo-pro years saw him drink so much that he came close to killing himself on two occasions. He denied that he had ever used drugs, however.

The mountains classification at the 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico appeared to signal that Grabovskyy was getting back on track but a serious accident a few months later put an end to his season. He dropped down to Continental level in 2011 with the ISD-Lampre squad, a year that would prove to be his final as a professional.