Sara Piffer, an Italian racer with Continental team Mendelspeck, has died during a training ride on Friday morning in the northern Trentino region of her country when she was reportedly hit by the driver of a vehicle. She was 19.
Piffer was training on a minor road between the localities of Mezzocorona and Mezzolombardo when the incident happened. Attempts were made to save her life on the spot and she was subsequently evacuated by a hospital helicopter, but it was to no avail.
Her brother, an amateur racer who was out training with her was also caught up in the crash but only suffered minor injuries, according to reports in the Italian press.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, an initial reconstruction of the incident indicates it happened when one car, travelling in the opposite direction to Piffer, was overtaking another vehicle and collided with her.
At the time of the incident, Piffer was racing for a Continental squad, Mendelspeck for a second season.
Amongst her top results in 2024 was a victory in the U23 Giornata Nazionale Rosa - GP Città di Corridonia - Trofeo Impresa Edile Fiorelli race, a second place in the Cronoscalata Festa dell'Uva uphill time trial and a fourth place in a team time trial event in the Italian Nationals.
Back in 2023, she placed sixth in the Italian National Championships junior time trial and eighth in the junior road race. According to Tuttobiciweb, Piffer was also a gifted track racer, placing second in the Madison in the Italian Nationals in 2021.
In an interview with Tuttobiciweb, team director Renato Pirrone described Piffer as a "fantastic person, really motivated," who had asked her parents for a year out from studies to see how she could progress as a full-time racer.
"She was a very talented person, he added, "but now we are left with the pain of what could have been, and won't ever come to pass."
On the Facebook page of the Trentino branch of the Italian Cycling Federation, local president Renato Beber added "It is with immense anguish and amazement that we learned the dramatic news of a new young victim on the roads of the Trentino region. After Matteo Lorenzi," - the 17-year-old, also from Trento who died in a training traffic incident when he was struck by a van last May, and to whom Piffer dedicated her win in GP Città di Corridonia last year, according to Tuttobiciweb - "who also disappeared in a training accident, now we must mourn Sara Piffer."
"We unite ourselves to the immense pain of her family and loved ones, and we can't avoid addressing the authorities either: it's necessary to take concrete steps for the safety of cyclists who out on the roads, dedicate themselves to their passion and follow their dreams. It's necessary to move from words to actions."
