Tragic day in Valle d'Aosta: Italian top talent Samuele Privitera (19) dies after crash

The Giro della Valle d'Aosta is the largest U23 race in Italy, following the Giro Next Gen. Things went wrong during the first stage, from and to Aosta. Privitera reportedly crashed during a descent, losing his helmet and hitting a guardrail hard. Emergency services were quickly on the scene. After stabilizing him, they performed CPR on the young Italian, who was then taken to the hospital. He died from his injuries, according to the organization. As a result of the tragic news, the second stage was canceled.

Privitera rode for Hagens Berman Jayco, the training arm of the Australian team Jayco-AlUla. General manager Axel Merckx reacted with sadness to the death of his young rider. “Samuele was and always will be the life and personality of this team,” he said on Instagram. “This team has always been a small family, and moments like this are unimaginable. He was irreplaceable. His joy, his spirit, his kindness, was always a bright light to whatever room or race that he was in at that moment.”

“To lose him is devastating beyond words. Personally, I am struggling to express the sadness I feel but I am deeply grateful for every moment we shared with him and for the joy he brought to our team every single day. He loved the bike, he loved the camera, he loved to smile, he loved to laugh, but most of all he loved his family and his teammates," concluded the Belgian.

Privitera finished third last year in a stage of the Giro Next Gen won by Huub Artz. This year, he made his professional debut when he was selected to ride for Jayco-AlUla in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. He finished the race in 95th place overall. The Italian was known as a good climber and finished 63rd in the last edition of the Tour of Italy for U23 riders.