American cyclist Magnus White, who was scheduled to race at the upcoming world championships in Scotland, was killed Saturday in a accident.
Magnus White : Accident | Boulder death | Gofundme
White began racing at a national level when he was 10 and credited his father for introducing him to the sport.
“When I was growing up, my dad really got me into cycling because he raced road, then I discovered my local team [Boulder Junior Cycling], which has some really great coaches who got me where I am today,” White said in his profile on the USA Cycling website.
White was a rising multidisciplinary star, winning a junior national championship in cyclocross in 2021 and earning a place on the US national team.
He competed with the team in Europe before last year’s cyclocross world championships, and he was picked to represent the US again at this year’s cyclocross worlds in the Netherlands.
White began to compete in road cycling and mountain biking this season. He was on one of his final training rides before the junior world mountain bike championships in Scotland, when he was killed.
Magnus White accident
USA Cycling released a statement Sunday afternoon confirming that 17-year-old Magnus White had passed away following a crash while out on a training ride in Boulder, Colorado.
“He was a rising star in the off-road cycling scene and his passion for cycling was evident through his racing and camaraderie with his teammates and local community.”
The U.S. National Team athlete was in final preparations before leaving for Glasgow, Scotland to compete in the Junior Men’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships on August 10, 2023.
White won the Junior 17-18 national title at the 2021 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships, which earned him a spot on the National Team. He competed all season in the European circuit last year.
USA Cycling said, “He proudly represented the U.S. and the Boulder community at another Cyclocross World Championships in January of 2023 in Hoogerheide [Netherlands]. The summer of 2023 marked a new chapter for White, where he earned a spot on the Mountain Bike World Championships team.”
The cycling community has already expressed heartbreak over the incident. Professional off-road endurance cyclist Payson McElveen posted “This is unbelievably heartbreaking. Wishing the best to those that knew and loved Magnus. There’s got to be a way to make road riding safer.”
His competitive cycling career started early.
Magnus White Boulder death
Seventeen-year-old American cyclist Magnus White, who was scheduled to race at the upcoming world championships in Scotland, was killed Saturday when he was struck by a vehicle on a training ride near his home in Boulder.
At 12:33 p.m. Saturday, White was riding his Trek Model Emonda SL 7 bike southbound on Diagonal Highway just south of the 63rd Street intersection when he was hit by a woman driving a Toyota Matrix that had crossed from the righthand lane into the shoulder, according to Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gabriel Moltrer.
White was ejected from his bike and transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Toyota driver — identified by Moltrer as a 23-year-old Westminster woman — was the only person in the car. Drugs, alcohol and excessive speed are not suspected to have been factors in the crash, Moltrer said.
No charges have been filed at this time, and the crash remains under investigation.
The Boulder County Coroner’s Office sent out a release identifying White on Monday, one day after USA Cycling announced White’s death in a statement Sunday.
White was a rising multidisciplinary star, winning a junior national championship in cyclocross in 2021 and earning a place on the U.S. national team.
He competed with the team in Europe ahead of last year’s cyclocross world championships, and he was picked to represent the U.S. again at this year’s cyclocross worlds in the Netherlands.
Gofundme
White was described as a “bright and talented” teen whose “greatest joy in life was cycling” on a GoFundMe page set up for his family to help them honor him.
The page, created by Christine Lipson, who is mom to one of White’s friends and teammates, has already raised more than $60,000.