2nd Vuelta de la Argentina - Cat. 2.5

Argentina, February 16 - March 5, 2000

Stage 7 - February 28: Encon - San Juan, 160 km

Cyclist killed during seventh stage

Morales in the Mallorca Challenge
Photo: Mario Stiehl

Spanish cyclist Saul Morales, a member of the Fuenlabrada team, was killed during today's seventh stage of the Tour of Argentina after being involved in a collision with a truck.

According to witnesses, the police controlling the race had told the driver of the truck to move to the side of the road as the cyclists were coming the other way. However, the truck only waited until the main group had passed, and not the stragglers behind the race, including Morales, and Carsten Gottschalk (Ger, Agro Adler Brandenburg). The truck collided with Morales, who then hit Gottschalk who suffered a broken collarbone. Morales was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Cesar Aguilar hospital in Caucete, San Juan suffering multiple heart attacks, head and thorax injuries.

The riders rode the rest of the stage 7 in mourning, but will not resume the race until stage 9 with the individual time trial. All prize money from stages 6 and 7 will be donated to the Morales family. The Fuenlabrada team withdrew immediately and will return to Madrid today. They will not ride the Tour of Murcia as planned. After having three riders die in four years on the roads (Morales, Manuel Sanroma in 1999, and Jose Antonio Espinosa in 1996), the team has been deeply affected by the incident.

Team director, José Perez said that: "The team is shattered. Saúl was with us for 11 years, first as an amateur and then as professional. Germán Nieto and Nácor Burgos were his good friends and could not believe it when I told them in the dining room."

"We did not know how to react," said Nieto. "Some of us were so affected that they left the team hotel to come to terms with it."

The directors of the Mapei, Kelme and ONCE teams expressed their sympathies also, pronouncing what a good and hard working rider Morales was, and how much potential he had. They called for race organisers to be more careful so as to avoid such accidents. Alvaro Pino (Kelme) added that: "The thing is, that the cyclists come off worst. Although you can say that we took too many risks and it is dangerous, this does not help the problem," also giving his condolences to the Morales family.

Rider safety is a big concern of team directors, and they called for the organisers to better plan their races and the roads that they would use. "It is important to have different races during the season [like the Tour of Argentina], but we must also teach the organisers the importance of having suitable safety measures," said José Miguel Echávarri, Banesto's team director.

Saul Morales

Born: June 3, 1973 - Leganes / Madrid, Spain

Teams:
Amateur/Elite: Fuenlabrada (1993-1998)
Professional: Fuenlabrada (1999), Colchòn Relax-Fuenlabrada (2000)

Wins:
Stage in the Vuelta a Avila (1998)
Stage in the Vuelta a Venezuela (1999)