August 03, 2017 (Po Valley, Italy) – Quebec rider Geoffroy Dussault (@teamgris), previously with Garneau-Quebecor, escaped serious injury when he was hit by inattentive driver in Italy on Aug 1. Dussault is competing in the The PEdAL ED Transcontinental Race and the incident happened during the route from Belgium to Greece. This follows a few days after the tragic death of a Dutch rider racing in the same event as Dussault.

“Philippe and his team succeeded in restoring my rear wheel so that it is functional. Unfortunately, I was the victim of an inattentive woman driving in Italy’s Po Valley. She butted directly against my rear wheel. #philippehero,” reads a translation of a post Dussault made Aug. 1.

In separate incident at the same event, Dutchman, Frank Simons, was killed few days earlier with some reports suggesting he was the victim of a hit-and-run incident.

“Frank Simons’ death in the early hours of this race is a tragedy that has affected the cycling community deeply, and will continue to affect everyone close to the Transcontinental for a long time to come,” reads a statement on the event website.

Subsequent Facebook posts by Dussault suggest that he has successfully passed over Monte Grappa and into Slovakia. A former roadie with the Garneau-Quebecor team, Dussault apparently now works as a product manager for Garneau.

The PEdAL ED Transcontinental Race #TCRNO5 is a 4,000km event across Europe billed as: “A bikepacking challenge across continents — from Flanders, Belgium to Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Romania & Greece with no set route.” This year’s fifth annual edition started in Geraardsbergen, Belgium on July 28, trying to reach the Meteora Monasteries in Greece, by August 12.

Pedal wishes good luck to Dussault while expressing its condolences to the family and friends of Frank Simons.

Event website here.

Facebook here.