Tributes have been paid to the first French-speaking Gravel YouTuber after he died when he was hit by a driver during a race.
Stéphane Goyard, 54, described as a gravel “pioneer” who ran the popular Gravel & Bike YouTube channel, was competing in the “Défi200” event at the Nature is Bike festival near Angers in the Loire valley when the fatal collision took place on Saturday afternoon, hours after posting his final video to social media.
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The Saumur prosecutor’s office said the incident occurred on a descent near the town of Bois-d’Anjou, 30km east of Angers. Despite the rapid intervention of the emergency services, Goyard was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic. They added that the driver, a 46-year-old local woman, was taken to hospital in a state of shock.
The prosecutor reportedly described the collision as a “tragic accident,” determining that “the motorist could not have done anything to avoid the cyclist who rushed without slowing down.” Separately, the event organiser told road.cc, that Goyard had ridden through a junction before colliding with the car. A police investigation has been opened, Le Parisien reports.
The prosecutor’s choice of language differs from that used by authorities in the UK, where use of the word ‘accident’ is no longer used to describe collisions and road incidents.
Following Goyard’s death, the Nature is Bike festival cancelled certain events programmed for the following day, with a minute’s silence held in the festival village.
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In a statement, the event organisers said, “The teams and participants are deeply affected by this tragedy. All our most sincere thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”
Goyard’s death was announced by his brother, Hervé, who wrote, “Since the morning, I’ve been crying all the tears in my body,”
“My sorrow is immense. I think of your three children, your wife and our parents, who are very old, for whom life will never be the same again. My little brother, we still had so many projects together, and still so many kilometres to travel on the path of life. Why?”
