The Gran Fondo “Paolo Bettini-La Geotermia”, one of the granfondo races in the "Granducato di Toscana" series, was immediately suspended on Sunday after the fatal injury to a rider involved in an accident.
Granfondo racing can be dangerous. I've seen people take enormous risks. In the Maratona dles Dolomites there were riders flying down the mountainsides at incredible speeds as I hoped they were riding within their skills. Some were not. At the Granfondo Italia the speeds on the flats were very high and with a gruppo compacto there were several, serious, accidents. It was this granfondo that always stressed me out the most, being 100++% alert for an entire race was extremely stressful. Then, there are the crazy things that can happen: at the Granfondo Avesani my friend was hit by an ambulance that was responding to a rider that had crashed.
Granfondos are a lot of fun, staying over to the right can keep you out of a lot of grief. Keep in mind also that not everyone is racing full throttle so you can enjoy the spirit of a granfondo in company without taking risks. Be careful out there.
Photo: a race crash somewhere in Italy
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