Fabio Casartelli (16 August 1970 – 18 July 1995) was an Italian cyclist and an Olympic gold medalist. He was killed in a crash on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet, France, during the 15th stage of the 1995 Tour de France. Amateur career Fabio Casartelli showed great promise as an amateur. He had many important wins and placings between 1990 and 1992, climaxing in winning a gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics road race. He finished the 194 km race in 4:35:21, a second ahead of Erik Dekker of the Netherlands and 3 ahead of Dainis Ozols of Latvia. Amateur victories 1990 Trofeo Sironi 1991 Monte Carlo-Alassio Gemeli Meda Coppa Casale GP Capodarco di Fermo Trofeo Cesab 1992 Olympic Road Race Championship Monte Carlo-Alassio GP Diano Marina Coppa Cigogna Trophia de Mare Professional career Casartelli began his professional career in 1993 with the Ariostea team. He won a stage in the Settimana Bergamasca race, came second in a stage of the Tour de Suisse and finished the Giro d'Italia. In 1994 he moved to ZG-Mobili. For his third professional year, he moved to Team Motorola. He placed sixth in the Spanish Clásica de Almería and third in the second stage of the Spanish Tour of Murcia. Casartelli was selected to represent his team for the 1995 Tour de France along with Alvaro Mejia, Frankie Andreu, Lance Armstrong, Steve Bauer, Kaspars Ozers, Andrea Peron, Steve Swart and Sean Yates. Professional results 1993 - Team Ariostea Giro d'Italia: 107th overall Settimana Bergamasca: first stage 1 Tour de Suisse: second stage 5, third stage 2 1994 - Team ZG-Mobili Bottecchia Giro di Toscana: 15th overall 1995 - Team Motorola Classica Costa del Almeria: sixth overall Tour de Suisse: second stage 1 Tour of Murcia: third stage 7 Death On 18 July, during the fifteenth stage of the 1995 Tour de France, Casartelli and a few other riders crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet mountain pass in the Pyrenees. Casartelli's head struck the concrete blocks along the roadway, causing severe head injuries and loss of consciousness. Doctors arrived within ten seconds. While being flown to a local hospital by helicopter, Casartelli stopped breathing and after numerous resuscitation attempts he was declared dead. It has been argued that Casartelli would have survived if he had been wearing a bicycle helmet. Gerard Porte, the Tour's senior doctor, claimed