Sopera Neopro's Estela Dominguez was struck and killed by a truck driver during training Thursday afternoon.

Dominguez had joined the team this year but had not yet made her professional debut. While training in Villares de la Reina, near Salamanca, Castilla y León, northern Spain, he was hit by a truck at an intersection near an industrial park.

Emergency services were called at 6:32 p.m. Thursday, but were unable to save the 18-year-old.

"It is with immense pain that we learned that our cyclist, Estela Dominguez, was killed this afternoon while training, the victim of a hit-and-run," Sopera announced on Twitter." We stand with her family at this terrible moment. Rest in peace."

The Spanish Cycling Federation RFEC (opens in new tab) also paid tribute to Dominguez, saying, "The entire Spanish cycling community is in mourning. Please always respect cyclists on the road. Every bicycle carries a life."

The Spanish daily El País (opens in new tab) reported that local authorities said "everything points to distraction" on the part of the truck driver, and that one hypothesis is that the setting sun dazzled the driver and affected his vision, with an investigation underway.

Dominguez has competed in both road and cyclocross as a junior, most recently in the cyclocross round of the UCI World Cup in Benidorm. Last season she placed second in the Women's Cup, a junior national competition, and in the top five in the junior road race and time trial at the Spanish national championships.

Along with his cycling career, Dominguez studied human resources and labor relations at the University of Salamanca.

She is the daughter of Juan Carlos Dominguez, a professional racer for Kelme, iBanesto, Phonak, and Saunier Duval in the 1990s and 2000s and a stage winner at the 2002 Giro d'Italia.

Overnight, tributes to Dominguez poured in from the Spanish cycling community, with Spanish teams Movistar (opens in new tab), Burgos-BH (opens in new tab), and Caja Rural-Segros RGA (opens in new tab) all posting memorial Messages posted.

Alejandro Valverde wrote: "There are no words I can use in the face of all this. My love to the family and friends of Estela Dominguez and especially to her father, with whom I shared the team during my childhood, RIP."

Cycling News would like to extend its condolences to Dominguez's family, friends, and former teammates.