Cycling champion Ethan Boyes died after a car struck him while he was riding in San Francisco’s Presidio national park, authorities said Friday.
Boyes, winner of multiple world and national track championships, was hit around 4 p.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Park Police said in a statement.
The agency identified the injured cyclist only as an adult man and said he later died at a local hospital. The driver, who was hospitalized with injuries not thought to be life-threatening, was not identified.
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which advocates for safe biking in the city and described Boyes as a beloved local cyclist, cited eyewitnesses who said Boyes was traveling south when a car traveling the opposite direction struck him.
The Park Police did not say who was at fault.
“Crash investigations are complex and require an analysis of a large amount of evidence and data,” the agency said, adding that detectives were investigating the death with the local U.S. Attorney’s office.
In a statement to NBC Bay Area, Boyes’ relatives said he was passionate about cycling, the environment and family, describing him as the “mortar” that held them together.
“Those who had the joy of knowing Ethan, or who had even met him in passing, know that he was wildly generous of spirit and heart, charismatic, quietly funny, thoughtful, smart and gracious,” his family said.
“He had the ability to walk into any room and make the people in it feel special and heard,” the statement said.
USA Cycling mourned Boyes’ death Friday, describing the 10 time national champion in a Facebook post as an “upstanding member of the American track cycling community.”
“His loss will be felt at local, regional, national, and world events for years, as he brought a mixture of competition and friendliness to every race,” the organization said. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”
Boyes earned championships last year for track time trial and sprint events for men aged 40-44, according to USA Cycling. He also held the world’s best performance record for the 1,000 meter time trial for men aged 35-39, a record set in 2015, the group said.
Todd Miyazawa contributed.
