ORIHUELA, Spain (AP) — Team Sky has withdrawn its riders from the Spanish Vuelta following the death of the squad’s masseur.
Txema Gonzalez died in a Seville hospital Friday after going into septic shock following a bacterial infection. The team said the infection entered Gonzalez’s blood stream and developed into sepsis that damaged his organs. He was 43.
Team principal Dave Brailsford says the team is devastated by Gonzalez’s death and that pulling out of the event was the only decision Sky could take.
The team said there was no connection between Gonzalez’s illness and a viral infection that caused three of its riders to withdraw from the race.
