Tragic news has emerged from Ireland affecting the Giro Next Gen caravan and reverberating throughout the entire cycling world: sixteen-year-old Shane O'Brien was involved in an accident while training on his time trial bicycle and died at the scene.

According to the Irish Times, the road traffic incident occurred in County Waterford: the young man's bicycle collided with a parked truck on the N72 road at Ballygalane, just outside Lismore, shortly after 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was transported to University Hospital Waterford, where an autopsy will be performed. The truck driver sustained no injuries in the incident.

Shane's older brother, Liam O'Brien, was competing in the Giro with Lidl Trek Racing Future and immediately left the caravan to board a flight home, as confirmed to us by Luca Guercilena, general manager of the German team.

Born on July 1st, 2009, Shane raced for CAMS Majco and had achieved strong results in domestic races this season. On the weekend of June 6-7, he competed in France at the Côte d'Or Classic, finishing 36th overall and tenth in the young riders' classification. These results will sadly remain the final achievements of a career cut tragically short.