Carsten Podlesch, the last ever Stayer World Champion, was hit head-on by a car on Monday in Berlin while training for the Dortmunder Weihnachtspreis. He crashed heavily and suffered injuries to his head, chest, shoulder and ankle. The German was being treated in hospital on Monday evening, but no further information was immediately available.
Stayer racing (high speed derny racing) was dropped from the World Track Championships in 1994 after Podlesch became the last man to win the event that year. The discipline remains popular in Germany and is a regular feature of Six Day track events.
