Carlo Tonon (25 March 1955, in

San Vendemiano San Vendemiano is a municipality in the province of Treviso, northern Italy, from Treviso. Footballer Alessandro del Piero grew up in San Vendemiano. Twin towns * Nova Gorica A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event ...

– 17 June 1996, in Stabiuzzo) was an Italian professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

. He was a professional rider from 1982 through 1984 and twice started the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

1984 Tour de France

Tonon finished his first Tour de France for Carrera, where he rode alongside

Guido Bontempi Guido Bontempi (born 12 January 1960 in Gussago) is an Italian former road bicycle racer. Bontempi's career highlights include winning the spring's classic Gent–Wevelgem two times (1984 and 1986) and a total of 16 stages in the Giro d'Italia ...

, in 1982 as 116th. He was again selected for the 1984 Tour de France where in the 19th stage he collided with a tourist while descending the

Col de Joux-Plane Col de Joux Plane (el. 1691 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in Haute-Savoie, France, linking Morzine with Samoëns. The climb has been featured several times in the Tour de France cycling race Climb details *Starting from Samoëns, the Co ...

. He was transferred to

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

hospital with a fractured skull. He remained in a coma for two months and was left with a permanent disability which contributed to him taking his own life in 1996, aged 41.

Death and legacy

In 1996 Tonon committed suicide, hanging himself in his barn, having never totally recovered from his fall.Vergeten wielrenner: Tonon, Carlo
- Het is Koers From 2004, the ''Memorial Carlo Tonon e Denis Zanette'' is staged, in memory of Tonon and Denis Zanette, another Italian cyclist who died in 2003.

Palmarès

;1982 :

: 116th ;1983 : Giro d'Italia: 134th

References

External links

* 1955 births 1996 deaths Cyclists from the Province of Treviso Italian male cyclists Suicides by hanging in Italy 1996 suicides {{Italy-cycling-bio-1950s-stub