The excitement over the participation of  “Team Kingdom of Tonga” in the Tortour 1000km Ultra cycling race in Switzerland on Saturday turned into sadness, after a fatal accident stopped the event.

Tortour is the biggest multiday nonstop ultracycling event in the world. The race which starts and finishes in Zurich demands a great deal of its cyclists and crews. Riding non-stop, day and night, the athletes have to overcome the 1,000 kilometres route over several Alpine passes in only two days, either solo or in a team.

The race started off from Zurich at 5.00am on Saturday 15 August (4.00pm Tongan time). However, only 150 kilometres from the start line, the event was stopped, after a cyclist died in a head-on collision with a motorcycle. TheTortouristi cyclist (38) was negotiating a curve on the Oberalppass Road and died at the scene. The motorcyclist was evacuated to hospital by rescue helicopter.

Luka Muller the leader of the Team Kingdom of Tonga said that the Team was safe and had decided to stay overnight with other teams in the mountainous area before returning to Zurich on Sunday.

The six members of the Tongan team were:

• Benedikt Goldkamp – entrepreneur.
• Chris Bolliger – entrepreneur and a founding member of the Swiss Tongan Chamber of Commerce
• Alex Sacchi – self-employed professional cyclist
• Luka Muller and his eldest son Gian Muller, both with family roots in Tonga. Luka is the Honorary Council for the Kingdom of Tonga in Switzerland.

Luka  is the owner of the Seaview Lodge. He assembled the Team Kingdom of Tonga for the Ultra Cycling race “to collect funds for Tonga to overcome the difficult situation caused by COVID-19, and to support the people and businesses who have been devasated by the pandemic. Particularly the SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises) especially tourism, gastronomy and related sectors.”

The participation of “Team Kingdom of Tonga” in the 1000km Ultracycling race was livestreamed in Tonga at the Nuku’alofa Club where guests were welcomed to witness the Tongan team taking off on the 1000km race.