American motorcycle racer Nicky Hayden has died, five days after he was hit by a car while training on his bicycle, an Italian hospital said Monday. Hayden was 35.

Hayden suffered severe cerebral damage and multiple traumatic injuries, the hospital in Cesena, Italy, had said last week.

“The medical team has verified the death of the patient Nicholas Patrick Hayden, who has been undergoing care since last Wednesday May 17 in the intensive care unit of the Bufalini Hospital in Cesena following a very serious polytrauma which occurred the same day,” the hospital said in a statement.

A black Peugeot hit Hayden as he rode along the coast in Rimini. The crash smashed the car’s windshield. Judicial authorities have opened an investigation into the incident and questioned the 30-year-old driver of the Peugeot.


Hayden was in Italy after a race in Imola.

Hayden won the MotoGP title in 2006, finishing narrowly ahead of Italian great Valentino Rossi.

Nicky Hayden holds an American flag after winning the world championship GP at the Cheste racetrack near Valencia, Spain, in October 2006. (Bernat Armangue / Associated Press)

In a MotoGP career from 2003 to 2016 with Honda and Ducati, Hayden posted three victories and 28 podium finishes in 218 races.


After switching to the World Superbike championship last year, Hayden finished fifth in the 2016 standings.

Hayden was 13th in Superbike this season, riding for the Red Bull Honda team.

Hayden was born in Owensboro, Ky. Several family members had flown in from the United States, including Hayden’s mother and brother.