After a minute of silence before the start of the day’s ride, each team took turns leading the peloton for ten kilometers, leaving Leopard-Trek to lead the field across the finish line.
The peloton rode at a relaxed 20 mph, refusing to race. The riders rode instead to honor the memory of their lost comrade.
““This is not a day to be fighting for positions or racing for lines in the road,” race leader David Millar told Cycling Weekly. “I think we just need to get to the finish. We will respect Wouter’s memory.”
Giro director Angelo Zomegnan has said that Stage Four will not affect the overall outcome of the race.
The Stage Four route was lined with cycling fans displaying signs honoring Weylandt, and during the race, broadcasters read long lists of condolence messages from riders, team member sand fans.
Lance Armstrong led the peloton in a similar slow-paced memorial after one of his teammates, Fabio Casartelli, died while riding in the Tour de France in 1995.
Weylandt, riding for Leopard-Trek this season, was killed in a serious crash while racing in Stage Three.
According to eyewitnesses, Weylandt was descending at very high speed in a group of riders. He looked back briefly to see the traffic, and caught his pedal on a wall by the side of the road. Weylandt pitched over the wall and fell about 60 feet to the road below.
Weylandt, 26, was a popular rider, exuberant and fearless. He started riding professionally for the Quick Step team in 2006, then joined Leopard-Trek in 2011.
Leopard-Trek team manager Brian Nygaard said the team will continue to race in the Giro, at the request of Weylandt’s family. Individual team members are free to continue or withdraw as they see fit.
“The team is left in a state of shock and sadness, and we send all our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Wouter,” said a statement on the Leopard-Trek website. “This is a difficult day for cycling and for our team.”
Garmin-Cervelo rider Tyler Farar, Weylandt’s best friend in the peloton and a neighbor in the Belgian city of Ghent, will withdraw from the race after riding in the Stage Four tribute.
Farrar released a statement which said, in part, “I am unbearably saddened by the loss of Wouter today. As many know, he was my friend, training partner, and in many ways, another brother to me.
“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.”
Weylandt’s parents and his partner Anne-Sophie, five months pregnant, flew into Italy Monday evening. His father was at the finish line to watch the ranked riders pass by, honoring his son. Tomorrow they will reportedly leave flowers at the spot where Weylandt fell.
Stage Five: Hills and Dirt
Stage Five features bumps, lumpd, hills, sections of unpaved road, and an uphill finish. At 201 kilometers, the stage is not particularly long, and with only a pair of Category Three climbs, not particularly mountainous.
What sets Stage Five apart are the 23 kilometers of packed dirt roads, somewhat similar to Stage Three of last year’s Tour de France. The 2010 Giro included dirt roads, and the reaction was so positive, organizers brought them back for 2011.
The dirt will demand a different riding style than pavement, and will demand more of the equipment; a fuller test of bike-riding skills.
After two Cat 3 climbs and after pounding over the dirt, riders will have to head sharply uphill for the final three kilometers. This will punish the sprinters, and possibly provide a launching pad for a late attack, if the Cat 3 Croce de Fighine, 45 km from the end, hasn’t already done that.
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