Teen Competitive Cyclist Dies After Being Hit by Driver

Magnus White, a 17-year-old “rising star” in competitive cycling, has died after being hit by a car in Colorado while he was training for the world championships, the state police and U.S.A. Cycling, the sport’s governing body, said.

White excelled in cyclocross, an international sport in which racers compete on a course of multiple surfaces, including pavement and trails, and carry their bicycles over off-road obstacles. He was a junior member of U.S.A. Cycling, the Colorado Springs-based organization said.

White was struck by a car on Saturday in Boulder County, which has a population of about 320,000 and is in the north-central part of the state known for its rugged mountains, foothills, trails and the University of Colorado campus in Boulder.

He was on a north-south stretch of Highway 119 known as the Diagonal, which runs between Boulder and Longmont. The road is so frequently used by cyclists that local and state authorities are working on a long-term plan to add a separate bike trail in the middle of it.

At about 12:30 p.m., White was riding his endurance road bicycle southbound on the shoulder of the highway when a Toyota Matrix struck him from behind, ejecting him from the bicycle, Trooper Gabriel Moltrer, a public information officer for the Colorado State Patrol, said on Monday. White was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Mr. Moltrer said.

There was no indication that drugs, alcohol or excessive speed were involved, and the driver was not injured in the accident, which took place northeast of Boulder, Mr. Moltrer said.