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 Fall kills Spanish cyclist Sanroma dies of head injury in Tour of Catalunya
Posted: Sunday June 20, 1999 08:36 AM
VILANOVA, Spain (AP) -- Manuel Sanroma, a rising star in Spanish cycling, died of a head injury Saturday after falling in a sprint finish in the second leg of the Tour of Catalunya. Sanroma, bleeding profusely, was rushed to San Camil Hospital in the town of Sitges near Barcelona but was pronounced dead on arrival, emergency room director Gerardo Villa told the news agency Efe. The base of Sanroma's skull hit a curb when he fell, Villa said. Other riders also went down in the fall but none of the other riders were seriously hurt. Sanroma, who rode for the Fuenlabrada team, was 22. He had turned professional only last year, and was considered an emerging force in Spanish cycling, especially for his skills as a sprinter. So far this season he had won the first leg of the Tour of Valencia, four stages of the Tour of Alentejo and two in the Tour of Asturias. The president of the Spanish Cycling Federation, Manuel Perez Rubio, said his death was a further blow to a sport haunted by doping scandals and other woes. "I don't know what is going in cycling lately, but we just go from one tragedy to another," Perez said from Valencia, according to Europa Press. Saturday's stage was won by Italy's Mario Cipollini, who also took Friday's first leg. However, the overall leader is Spain's Angel Luis Casero of Vitalicio Seguros because of his strong performance in a prologue Thursday. Cipollini covered Saturday's 172.5 kilometer (108 mile) course between Tortosa and Vilanova in 4 hours and 38 seconds. The same time was assigned to the next three finishers -- Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens, George Hincapi of the United States and Germany's Erik Zabel. The third of the tour's seven legs stretches 155.6 kilometers (97 miles) between Vilanova and Barcelona.
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