Belgian rider dies after crash
Source: Agencies |
May 11, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
GIRO d'Italia cyclists, sporting black armbands, took part in a "stage of respect" for Wouter Weylandt yesterday after the Belgian rider was killed in a crash the previous day.
Organizers ruled that the day's placings would not count towards the race's final result.
"The stage will be neutralized," Giro director Angelo Zomegnan said at the start of the coastal 216km stage from Quarto dei Mille to Livorno.
"Each team will race at the front of the pack for 10km."
Weylandt, 26, died after falling off his bike coming down from Passo del Bocco on Monday and suffering multiple injuries. "It's a terrible day, just as every death in this sport is terrible," Zomegnan added.
Britain's race leader David Millar told reporters: "Wouter was a guy you thought would never die. It is a shock because he was so full of life. We have his best friend Tyler Farrar in the team and he's going home tonight because for him it's too much. It's not a day for racing for position or for the white (finishing) line on the road.
"We've just got to finish the stage as quickly as we can and ride well out of respect for Wouter."
Riders observed a minute's silence before the stage yesterday and a military band played the Last Post.
Classifications
The eight remaining members of Weylandt's Leopard-Trek team and the leaders of the Giro's four classifications lined up together before the start prior to moving off.
Weylandt's father went to a hospital in Lavagna to identify the body yesterday. He had arrived at Milan's Malpensa airport on Monday along with the rider's pregnant girlfriend, Anne Sophie. After leaving the hospital, he was taken to the scene of the accident.
Weylandt's was the first fatality at the Italian race in 25 years.
Doctors at the scene cut off his helmet and performed cardiac massage for 45 minutes at the side of the road but their efforts were in vain despite the arrival of a helicopter.
"The attempts to revive the rider lasted 45 minutes," race doctor Giovanni Tredici revealed. "I was the first to intervene, I reached the scene barely 30 seconds after he had crashed, and I was quickly joined by other experts, including a team doctor. But the situation was very serious, we could not do anything despite our best efforts."
Zomegnan refused to reveal exact details of how the accident happened, saying it was being investigated by a magistrate who was talking to riders who had witnessed the fatal crash.
Organizers ruled that the day's placings would not count towards the race's final result.
"The stage will be neutralized," Giro director Angelo Zomegnan said at the start of the coastal 216km stage from Quarto dei Mille to Livorno.
"Each team will race at the front of the pack for 10km."
Weylandt, 26, died after falling off his bike coming down from Passo del Bocco on Monday and suffering multiple injuries. "It's a terrible day, just as every death in this sport is terrible," Zomegnan added.
Britain's race leader David Millar told reporters: "Wouter was a guy you thought would never die. It is a shock because he was so full of life. We have his best friend Tyler Farrar in the team and he's going home tonight because for him it's too much. It's not a day for racing for position or for the white (finishing) line on the road.
"We've just got to finish the stage as quickly as we can and ride well out of respect for Wouter."
Riders observed a minute's silence before the stage yesterday and a military band played the Last Post.
Classifications
The eight remaining members of Weylandt's Leopard-Trek team and the leaders of the Giro's four classifications lined up together before the start prior to moving off.
Weylandt's father went to a hospital in Lavagna to identify the body yesterday. He had arrived at Milan's Malpensa airport on Monday along with the rider's pregnant girlfriend, Anne Sophie. After leaving the hospital, he was taken to the scene of the accident.
Weylandt's was the first fatality at the Italian race in 25 years.
Doctors at the scene cut off his helmet and performed cardiac massage for 45 minutes at the side of the road but their efforts were in vain despite the arrival of a helicopter.
"The attempts to revive the rider lasted 45 minutes," race doctor Giovanni Tredici revealed. "I was the first to intervene, I reached the scene barely 30 seconds after he had crashed, and I was quickly joined by other experts, including a team doctor. But the situation was very serious, we could not do anything despite our best efforts."
Zomegnan refused to reveal exact details of how the accident happened, saying it was being investigated by a magistrate who was talking to riders who had witnessed the fatal crash.
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