that protection was academic since the fatal blow was to an area of Casartelli's head that would not have been covered by a helmet. However Michel Disteldorf, the French doctor who examined Casartelli's body on behalf of the coroner in Tarbes, where the rider was flown by helicopter after he crashed, told the Sunday Times that the point of impact was on the top of the skull, and that had Casartelli been wearing a hard helmet "some injuries could have been avoided". His Motorola team continued the Tour de France, crossing the finish line of the next stage first, side by side in Pau. The peloton followed behind, riding slowly. The Société du Tour de France awarded the stage prizes as normal, and the riders donated all the money won that day to a fund established for his family. The Tour later matched that amount, and thousands of individuals contributed to the fund. Three days after the accident Fabio Casartelli's teammate Lance Armstrong dedicated his stage win in Limoges to Casartelli by pointing at the sky as he rode over the finish line. The Société du Tour de France and the Motorola team placed a memorial near where he crashed, situated at co-ordinates (42.940, 0.819). The memorial is a sundial arranged such that the sun's shadow highlights three dates — his birth and death and 2 August, the day he won his Olympic gold medal. The bicycle he was riding at the time of his fatal crash was placed in the chapel at the Madonna del Ghisallo, a church and museum to cyclists near his home. In 1997, the young rider classification in the Tour de France was renamed "Souvenir Fabio Casartelli" in his honour. References External links Tour de France 1995: Crash of Fabio Casartelli (Warning - some scenes in this video may cause distress). 1970 births 1995 deaths Italian male cyclists Olympic cyclists of Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Cyclists who died while racing Sport deaths in France Olympic medalists in cycling Filmed deaths in sports Sportspeople from Como Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Cyclists from the Province of Como