British cyclist Finlay Tarling, 19, died Friday in a crash during the eighth stage of the Tour of Portugal, race organizers and police said.<\/p>\n
Tarling, a rider with the NSN Development Team, died following a “serious accident” during the stage between Melga\u00e7o and Fafe, organizers said.<\/p>\n
The podium ceremony was canceled “as a sign of respect and mourning,” they added.<\/p>\n
Finlay Tarling Dies After Tour of Portugal Crash<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Portugal’s National Republican Guard (GNR), Tiago Machado, said there had been a collision between a cyclist and a light vehicle toward the back of the peloton.<\/p>\n
“We do not yet know exactly the circumstances in which it unfolded. We will investigate,” he told reporters, adding that there was “a strong police presence” throughout the stage.<\/p>\n
Portuguese broadcaster RTP, which was televising the race, reported that Tarling was involved in a head-on collision with a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction and not connected to the event.<\/p>\n
The stage was suspended with about 20 kilometers (12 miles) remaining, it added.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Marques, who is responsible for stage safety at the Tour of Portugal, said he tries to correct road signage ahead of stages to “give the athletes the maximum protection.”<\/p>\n
“But there are things we cannot control, such as traffic. The traffic is controlled by the security forces to a certain extent,” he told RTP.<\/p>\n
“We will know more later, but in any case, something went wrong for this to have happened.”<\/p>\n
Tributes Paid To Finlay Tarling<\/p>\n
C\u00e2ndido Barbosa, president of the Portuguese Cycling Federation, which is organizing the race, said the safety of the athletes was “our top priority.”<\/p>\n
“This was the hardest moment of my entire life, both as a former athlete and now as president of the Portuguese Cycling Federation,” he said, urging athletes to “stay strong” as they complete the Tour of Portugal.<\/p>\n
The NSN Development Team confirmed Tarling’s death and sent condolences to his parents and brother Josh, who rides for the Netcompany INEOS team.<\/p>\n
“Fin was a much-loved member of our team but most importantly, he was a son, a brother, and a friend to so many. He will be deeply missed,” the team added in a message on social media.<\/p>\n
British Cycling said the news of Tarling’s death had left them “heartbroken.”<\/p>\n
“Fin was a hugely talented rider with a bright future ahead, a loyal teammate, and a brilliant young man,” it added in a message on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Portuguese Prime Minister Lu\u00eds Montenegro also expressed his condolences to Tarling’s family and team, adding on X that the news of his death “leaves us deeply shaken.”<\/p>\n
NSN Cycling Team Withdraws From Tour of Portugal After Finlay Tarling’s Death<\/p>\n
Finlay Tarling’s NSN cycling team withdrew from the Tour of Portugal on Saturday, the day after the death of the 19-year-old British rider in an accident during the race.<\/p>\n
“Following Fin Tarling’s tragic passing, the NSN Development Team has withdrawn from the remaining Volta a Portugal stages,” NSN said in a statement Saturday.<\/p>\n
“With the full support of Fin’s parents, the WorldTour team will race on at the Czech Tour and the Arctic Race of Norway.<\/p>\n
“We will continue to hold Fin in our hearts as we race in his honor, doing what he loved most.”<\/p>\n
Investigation Continues Into Tour of Portugal Crash<\/p>\n
Friday’s eighth stage was suspended with about 20 kilometers remaining and the podium ceremony was canceled as a “sign of respect and mourning,” organizers said.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Portugal’s National Republican Guard (GNR), Tiago Machado, said there had been a collision between a cyclist and a light vehicle toward the back of the peloton.<\/p>\n
“We do not yet know exactly the circumstances in which it unfolded. We will investigate,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"British cyclist Finlay Tarling, 19, died Friday in a crash during the eighth stage of the Tour of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-859062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}