USA Cycling announced yesterday that 17-year-old cyclist Magnus White died during training in Boulder, Colorado when a driver hit him with their car on Saturday. White was less than two weeks away from traveling to Glasgow, Scotland, to compete in the Junior Men’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships on August 10.
He was also a Boulder native and is described as “a rising star in the off-road cycling scene.” Recently, he won the 2021 Junior 17-18 Cyclocross National Championships, competed with the USA Cycling National Team in European Cyclocross racing, and later the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championship. He also represented the U.S. at the Cyclocross World Championships in January 2023. Earlier this summer, he earned a spot on the Mountain Bike World Championships team.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the White family, his teammates, friends, and the Boulder community during this incredibly difficult time,” USA Cycling said in a statement, adding, “We ride for Magnus.”
According to the Denver Post, White was riding along Colorado 119 north of Boulder on Saturday afternoon when the 23-year-old driver of a Toyota Matrix hit him with her car. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gabriel Moltrer told the Post that they don’t believe drugs, alcohol or speed were a factor but are considering distracted driving as a cause. At the moment, it does not appear that the driver has been arrested.
This news comes less than two weeks after a cyclist in Denver was killed by a hit-and-run driver in a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Police found the alleged driver, Steven Bielas, later that night and arrested him. Only a few days earlier, yet another Denver driver ran over a cyclist, sending her to the hospital. She reportedly suffered a broken femur, five other leg fractures, pelvic fractures and, according to her GoFundMe, 11 fractured ribs. The cyclist, Dana Fells, is reportedly stable after surgery but still faces a long road to recovery. Denver police cited the driver with careless driving resulting in injury and driving without a valid license.