Members of Team ZOCA - Halo Sports will continue competing in this week’s Redlands Bicycle Classic despite the sudden death of 23-year-old teammate Erica Greif.
Greif, of Reno, Nev., was killed in a car crash around midnight Tuesday while en route to the RBC, where she was to compete.
News of Greif’s death began to circulate following the conclusion of Wednesday’s opening stage in Highland and was confirmed in an RBC statement through event spokesman Scott Welsh.
The team was told of Greif’s death by team manager Martin Santos.
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“The girls took it hard,” Santos said. “They were very close to her. We are a team here, a family. They took it hard and are still taking it hard.”
Santos said he learned of Greif’s death just prior to the start of the women’s stage but chose to wait until after the race to deliver the news to the cyclists.
“I knew prior but I didn’t say anything until afterward,” Santos said. “I tried to keep my composure.”
Santos added, “I was shaking like a leaf. I got through it. There were people around me that supported me. That helped me.”
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Greif was an elite racer for the ZOCA-Halo Sports team and was previously a recipient of USA Cycling’s Edmund R. Burke Grant, which is given to promising junior and U-23 racers, according to a statement from Welsh.
“It (not finishing the race) was discussed briefly,” Santos said. “But I think Erica would want us to go ahead. That is the kind of person she was. She was a fighter, very competitive. I don’t think she would want us to stop.”
He said there was talk of a memorial for Greif later this week and details would come later.
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RBC president Bob Peppler called the incident “heartbreaking” in an emailed statement.
“It is with a great sense of sadness that we learned of the passing of Erica Greif as she was on her way to The Redlands Bicycle Classic,” he wrote. “Bicycle racing is a small family, and Redlands is a community that has many close ties to the cycling world. We send our deepest sympathy and regret to the friends, family and teammates of this bright young star in the sport of cycling.”
Greif was recently engaged to Nick Schaffner, a Category 1 racer for the Herbalife team, and she was set to graduate from University of Nevada-Reno this spring, according to the statement from Welsh.