Hurtling down Italian mountain pass at a speed that only a car would normally reach cyclist Belgian Wouter Weylandt lost control of his bike for a fraction of a second. In a sport where the slightest mistake can have catastrophic consequences, it has proved fatal.
Weylandt fell to his death Monday in an accident of descent in the third stage of the Giro d'Italia, with riders going mph 40 to 50 mph at the time. It is the first fatality in the Italian race in 25 years and the first one of the towers of showcase for the sport in 16 years.
It was one of the most high-profile death at an international sports event since Georgian fatality of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in training on the eve of Olympic Games year last of Vancouver. It has also renewed questions about safety in cycling where the riders zip down winding roads in mountain with drops steep and curves to pin hair.
"Our sport is very tragic times." "It has been throughout its history," said rider British David Millar, who took the Jersey rose as leader of the race after stage Monday but said that now meant "nothing".
"The essential is that the guys here are best cyclists in the world, and the best guys in the world may have a mechanical failure or be in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Millar.
The crash on the Passo del Bocco has not been broadcast live on television, but the images show paramedics frantically try to revive Weylandt, who was spans back to the road, bleeding heavily the face and head.
Rider Portuguese Manuel Cardoso, who saw the accident, said Weylandt lost control after the slap in a wall on the side of the road during the descent to 12 miles of the arrival in Rapallo in Northern Italy.
"Wouter was abandoned and has tried to return to the group," said Cardoso. "(Weylandt) then looked behind to see if it would be preferable to wait for the other riders fell." Looking behind, he struck his left pedal or the left side of the handlebars on a small wall and has been propelled to the other side of the road when it strikes yet something. It must have been terrible. ?
Teammate of Leopard - Tom Stamsnijder Weylandt Trek also witnessed the crash.
"It was a very hard fall," he said.
Nurses who followed the cyclists in the cars rushed to the scene, but it was already too late.
"Us arrive immediately as we were behind his group", said the Giro Dr. Giovanni Tredici. "He was unconscious with a fracture of the base and the face of skull damage." After 40 minutes of cardiac massage, that we had to suspend the resuscitation because there was nothing more we could do. ?
Body of Weylandt was covered with a sheet and taken away by ambulance about an hour after the accident. Investigators of a immediately opened an investigation. Body of Weylandt was transported to a nearby hospital for an autopsy.
Father of Weylandt and pregnant girlfriend of cyclist were en route to the Italy and had to be met at the airport of Milan Malpensa.
"I feel obliged to share with you a text message that I received today, reminding me that it is a sport where everyone applauds the runners, but that they are all risk their lives in every one meter of course.""," race Director Angelo Zomegnan said.
The accident is almost exactly a year after one of the greatest victories of career of Weylandt - the third stage of 2010 Giro may 10, as it passes through the Netherlands. His other stage victory main tower came from the Tower of Spain 2008 when he won the 17th stage.
