Cycling friends,

The report on injured Tecos-Trek rider, Fausto Esparza, is sobering to say the least. I’ve exchanged e-mails with the Tour of the Gila organizers and I’m told that Esparza underwent surgery on Sunday night but that he apparently is paralyzed from the mid-torso on down, with no sensation or movement in the lower half of his body.

Esparza, who rode last year in the inaugural Tour of Missouri, was injured in a bad crash Sunday in the fifth and final stage of the Tour of the Gila, one of the prime events on the US. national racing calendar. Eight riders in all went down in the crash on the descent into the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Bissell’s Tom Zirbel, the race leader at the time of crash, suffered a broken clavicle, ribs and fingers.

Gila organizer Jack Brennan is asking cyclists and fans to sends cards of encourgement to Esparza at Thomason Hospital in El Paso, Texas, where he was airlifted after the crash and is now in the ICU.

The address: 

Thomason Hospital
4815 Alameda Ave.
El Paso, TX 79905

Care of patient Fausto Esparza ICU-12

Esparza was listed as Fausto Esparza Munoz in early reports on Velonews.com and cyclingnews.com, but that’s because the full name on his racing license is Fausto Marcelino Esparza Munoz. According to Brennan, his correct name is Fausto Esparza. He was listed as Fausto Marcelino Esparza at the Tour of Missouri.

In Missouri last fall, Esparza was part of the Tecos team that helped animate the state’s first appearance on the international cycling stage. A small continental team out of Mexico, Tecos showed itself well against a peloton featuring top-flight UCI Pro Tour teams such as Discovery Channel and Saunier Duval and strong U.S. domestic squads such as Slipstream-Chipotle and Toyota-United.

In some respects, the Tour of Missouri set the stage for Tecos-Trek’s successful Gila. Tecos’ John Fredy Parra was selected as most aggressive rider at the Tour of Missouri, which helped the team attract the attention of Trek for a sponsorship this season.

The Tour of the Gila marked a major breakthrough for the team, with Gregorio Ladino Vega winning the pink jersey as the overall winner and Tecos-Trek taking the overall team title as well. Of course, the seriousness of Esparza’s injury far outweighed the accomplishments.

So use the address above and send your thoughts and prayers to Esparza in Texas.

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