A somber mood accompanied the 4th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday as the cyclists rode their bikes en masse without competing.
They rode in honor of Wouter Weylandt, the 26-year-old Belgian cyclist who died in a solo crash descending the Passo del Bocco on Monday.
Weylandt's best friend in the peloton, Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, WA, is planning to leave the Giro at the completion of the stage. The two became friends and training partners in Farrar's European home base of Ghent.
Black armbands
The cyclists — many wearing black armbands — proceeded through the 216km (134-mile) bike route from Genova Quarto dei Mille to Livorno on Tuesday without competing.
Each team was to spend 10k at the front of the peloton. Near the end, Weylandt's Leopard Trek cycling team took the front and led the other cyclists over the finish line. Leopard Trek team invited Farrar to join them in the front row. Earlier, the cyclists had observed a moment of silence at the start line.
After Tuesday, Leopard Trek will stay in the race. Weylandt's family members, and 5-months pregnant partner, asked the team to stay in the competition.
because they are the ones that participate in the race. We have always
said that we would stand behind their choice.”
lot of respect for the Giro d’Italia and for cycling, but we simply
cannot continue racing given the circumstances. We are professional
athletes, but we feel this is the right thing to do.”]
Weylandt is the fourth cyclist to die in the history of the Giro. The last fatality was Italy's Emilio Ravasio in the 1986 Giro.
'Wouter's memory'
Overall race leader David Millar of the Garmin-Cervelo team was quoted at CyclingNews.com:
“Today is not a day for fighting for position. We’ll ride to
the finish. We’ll respect Wouter’s memory and ride well. We’ll learn
from this as well and work more on safety. This can happen every day.”
In spite of the lack of competition, Universal Sports televised Stage 4 until the end.
Recent Comments