Wouter Weylandt dies in Giro d'Italia crash

Leopard-Trek's Wouter Weylandt was fatally injured today in a crash on the third stage of the Giro d'Italia. The 26-year-old went down on the Passo del Bocco and was unconscious at the scene.

Paramedics worked to revive the Belgian, doing CPR for an extended period of time before airlifting him to a nearby hospital. Doctors were unable to revive Weylandt.

"Today, our teammate and friend Wouter Weylandt passed away after a crash on the third stage of the Giro d’Italia," said Leopard-Trek Manager Brian Nygaard. "The team is left in a state of shock and sadness and we send all our thoughts and deepest condolences to the family and friends of Wouter."

"This is a difficult day for cycling and for our team, and we should all seek support and strength in the people close to us."

The third stage continued on, with riders not informed of the grave nature of Weylandt's crash, but race organisers canceled the podium ceremonies for stage winner Angel Vicioso (Androni Giocattoli) and new leader David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo).

Weylandt began his professional career as a trainee with the Quick Step team in 2004, following a victory the U23 Tour of Flanders and podium placings at the U23 Paris-Roubaix and E3 Prijs Harelbeke.

While his first of six full seasons with Quick Step was delayed by a case of glandular fever, his promise in the Classics was demonstrated with a second place in the 2006 Nokere Koerse.

While he spent much of his time at Quick Step as one of Tom Boonen's main helpers, he earned his victory in the top ranks in the 2007 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, where he also took second overall. He followed that with the Ronde van het Groene Hart and stages of the Tour of Belgium and Ster Elektrotoer.

After taking his first Classics podium with a third in Gent-Wevelgem, Weylandt won the 17th stage of the 2008 Vuelta a España in his first Grand Tour appearance. He last year won the third stage of the Giro d'Italia, where he bested the top sprinters in the peloton after a marathon stage to Middelburg.

Weylandt signed with the nascent Leopard Trek squad for the 2011 season.

Cyclingnews extends our deepest sympathies to Weylandt's family, friends and teammates.

He may rest in peace.....When we saw him na nasumuka cya ng dugo during live coverage my wife says his in critical condition bec he suffer internal bleeding and his heart stop pumping cguro sa truma.

Kaya engat mga fellow sigbin kung mg cycling along bz road. pgrecreational lng ang pgcycling natin hindi hanap buhay or pamugas.

kaya mga fellow sigbin mg resign na tayo sa cycling at mgfocus nlng tayo sa patintiro malamang para mgchampion tayo don.

ayos ka rin Osigbinko!

anyways may risk talaga kasama pag racing...

actually sabi ng witness, eh lumingat daw sandali sa likod at dun sumabit yung pedal or bar sa pader then lumipad.

may risk parin kahit nagbibike lang recreationally sa daan.

baon lang tayo ng ingat at matibay na helmet. (yung maraming styropore)

"He died from a fracture to the front of his skull".

kumagako wrote:ayos ka rin Osigbinko!

anyways may risk talaga kasama pag racing...

actually sabi ng witness, eh lumingat daw sandali sa likod at dun sumabit yung pedal or bar sa pader then lumipad.

may risk parin kahit nagbibike lang recreationally sa daan.

baon lang tayo ng ingat at matibay na helmet. (yung maraming styropore)

"and most of all baon tayo ng prayer bago mgcycling at tumakbo ng 55kmh sa keppel"

my condolences to the fallen if its any consolation you died a hero...

but let me stress na its not whether you are recreation or prosti rider....

it can happen to anyone so 100% Focus on the road is ALWAYS paramount when CYCLING.

Kahit anong physical activities eh dapat talaga safety first.
Risky talaga ang cycling lalo na yung recreational o weekend ride.
Nakikipagpatintero tayo sa mga truck at lorry.

So ingat lagi mga bro! and gaya nga ng sabi ko dapat lagi me time for some chit chat and fun pag me ride.
parang makapag sharing tayo ng mga ride experiences.

GIANT wrote:Kahit anong physical activities eh dapat talaga safety first.
Risky talaga ang cycling lalo na yung recreational o weekend ride.
Nakikipagpatintero tayo sa mga truck at lorry.

So ingat lagi mga bro! and gaya nga ng sabi ko dapat lagi me time for some chit chat and fun pag me ride.
parang makapag sharing tayo ng mga ride experiences.

hindi puwedi ang chit chat and have fun during sa ride kasi maka create ito ng junk miles.

-- "As many know, he was my friend, training partner, and in many ways, another brother to me. His death marks an irreparable change in my life, but, more importantly, in the lives of his family and most loved. Wouter was one of the kindest, funniest, and most admirable people I have ever had the opportunity to know, and his death is a tragedy to his family, his friends, and to the sport as a whole.

"I can only convey my deepest of sympathies to everyone who cared about him as deeply as I did, especially his family, his friends, his team and his fans -- we celebrate his life and mourn his death in equal measure. Wouter was and is the soul of this sport we all love -- an athlete who sacrificed himself for the better of many and a champion who celebrated each glory as a victory for his family, his team, and his friends and fans. I will remember him always, and will always strive to do him proud, as he has always done for the sport and people he loves." -- Garmin-Cervelo's Tyler Farrar, who was best friends and a training partner of Wouter Weylandt. Farrar, and Weylandt’s Leopard Trek teammates, chose to leave the Giro after Tuesday’s neutral stage honoring Weylandt.

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--- “I love cycling, and I've always been enchanted by the epic scale of it all; it was why I fell in love with it as a boy. Yet Wouter's death today goes beyond anything that our sport is supposed to be about; it is a tragedy that we as sportsmen never expect, yet we live with it daily, completely oblivious to the dangers we put ourselves in. This is a sad reminder to us, the racers, what risks we take and what lives we lead.

“Wouter was a sprinter; this means he was one of the most skillful bike-handlers in the peloton. For this to have happened to him shows that we are all at risk every single kilometer we race.” -- David Millar of Garmin-Cervelo, who assumed the GC lead on Monday.

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--- “The risks in road cycling at this level are truly beyond comprehension for those of us who don't do it for a living. We tend to focus on the strength, endurance and tactics required in the climbs and the reflexes it takes to survive and prosper in bunch sprints because they easily translate to television, which is how 99 percent of us see races.

But there is absolutely no way to convey what these athletes do when they go downhill. The speed, the body control, the fluidity, the instinct and science of picking a line -- they make it look easy. Some of them even revel in it. We talk about "making up time" or "catching back on" in descents as if it's routine, but five minutes as a passenger in a team car in the Dauphine Libere race in the Alps years ago was enough to convince me that it is the most underappreciated aspect of the sport.” -- ESPN.com cycling writer Bonnie D. Ford, in an article on the crash, and the dangers pro riders face.