The renowned Slovenian ultra-distance rider, Jure Robič, who won five editions of the Race Across America (RAAM) has been killed following a collision with a car while out training.
The accident happened close to the village of Plavški Rovt a few kilometres from the Austrian border and close to Robič’s hometown of Jesenice at around 2pm on Friday. A picture of the scene appears to show that Robič collided with a saloon car towing a trailer while he was negotiating a steep downhill, left-hand bend on an unsurfaced forest road. The local police have reported that the car driver was a 55 year old local man.
Robič was noted for his remarkable mental toughness which, allied to extraordinary physical stamina honed through years of punishing training regimes, helped him to win the RAAM event in 2005 and 2006 as well as 2007 and 2008 and finally this year.
He also broke the world 24 hour endurance record in 2004 by cycling 834.77 km (518.70 miles) and in 2005 and 2006 won the Tour Ultime – essentially a non-stop version of the Tour de France lasting 11 days rather than 21.
Jure Robič was 45 years old when he died.