Former junior World Championships racer Eva Mottet dies, aged 25

Eva Mottet, a former racer and daughter of retired French pro Charly Mottet, has died.

French media reports that the 25-year-old died last Wednesday (April 29), but the cause has not yet been confirmed.

Eva Mottet had competed at World Championship level as a junior and was an emerging time trial talent, before a crash in the 2012 Worlds road race forced her to stop competing.

Cycling news site Le Dérailleur, to which Eva contributed, announced her death in a statement, saying: “It was an honour. You were a champion who invested in our team, who shares, who radiates and has given a lot of support behind the scenes for the development of women's cycling on the site.

“Exchanging, sharing, listening were vocations for you. At a time when kindness was only a fashion, you were the natural and spontaneous embodiment of it.

We will keep the memory of a competitor, a champion of course, but it is your smile that will remain eternal in our eyes.”

During her racing career, Eva finished fourth in the 2012 European Championships junior TT, following up with sixth in the junior Worlds TT.

But just a few days later her racing career came into doubt after a heavy crash during the Worlds road race in Valkenburg, the Netherlands, which resulted in injuries to her nose.

She did return to the peloton after the crash, but was eventually forced to give up racing due to complications caused by the fall, but remained part of the sporting world as a massage therapist.

Eva is the daughter of retired French rider Charly Mottet, who raced from 1983 until 1992 for Renault-Elf, RMO and finally Novemail-Histor.

Mottet was a triple winner of the Critérium du Dauphiné, in 1987, ’89, and ’92, and also won three Tour de France stages.

He now works as a UCI official.