Suleiman ‘Sule’ Kangangi died after a high-speed crash at the Vermont Overland’s 59-mile dirt road bicycle race on Saturday.
The circumstances leading to Kangangi’s crash and death remain unknown, according to Ansel Dickey, owner of Vermont Overland.
Kangangi crashed while riding down Long Hill Road in South Woodstock, “a well-maintained, straight, downhill section of dirt and gravel, with good visibility,” Dickey wrote in a statement Wednesday.
Riders trailing Kangangi quickly came to his aid, according to Dickey, and local EMTs responded to the scene. Kangangi later died while en route to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
“I have no doubt that everyone in the cycling community and the 1100 riders who completed the Overland are completely perplexed about how something this horrifying could have happened to such a high-caliber rider,” Dickey wrote.
Kangangi was captain of Team AMANI, an international group of East African cyclists.
The Vermont Overland race includes nearly 7,000 feet of climbing and utilizes unmaintained Class 4 roads in and around Brownsville.
A GoFundMe page for Kangangi has raised over $65,000 in donations to support his family.
— Ethan Weinstein