Karel Verbist (16 August 1883 – 21 July 1909) was Belgian National Stayers Champion in 1908 and 1909.

[1][2] On July 21, Verbist collided with the motorcycle of Constant Ceurreman (his pacemaker) on the track in Brussels and died almost immediately.

[3][4][1] Verbist is the subject of a macabre Flemish folk-poem... "Chareltje, Chareltje Verbist, hadt ge niet gereden op de pist(e), hadt ge niet gelegen in de kist.

"[5] which roughly translates to "Verbist, if you hadn't ridden your bike, you may not have ended up in a coffin."

List of racing cyclists and pacemakers with a cycling-related death