Fifty Plus (50+) - Leopard-Trek's Wouter Weylandt dies in Giro Crash

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/weylandt-dies-in-giro-ditalia-crash

sobering.

Wow. Yeah, sorry to read about this accident. We see these guys hit the ground all the time and always get back to racing. Be safe out there.

Sobering and tragic.

Very tragic! Ironic that last year he won stage 3 of the Giro and this year he crashed and died in stage 3 of the Giro. :(

Wow, that is terrible.:(

So was it a very high speed crash or just a bad fall?

So was it a very high speed crash or just a bad fall?
Fast downhill on a twisty section of the road.

Caught the after math On Eurosport as the accident was not caught. Looking at the 5 seconds shown of him lying in the road I would say it was a face plant into the road or Barrier.

Sad! Very sad! He was only 26 years old.

This is from VeloNews.com

RadioShack press attaché Philippe Maertens released this e-mail to VeloNews on what Cardoso saw: “Wouter was dropped and tried to come back to the group,” Maertens wrote of Cardoso’s reaction. “(Weylandt) then looked behind to see if he would be better to wait for other dropped riders (some 20). While looking behind, he hit with his left pedal or the left side of his handlebars on a small wall and was catapulted to the other side of the road when he hit again something. It must have been terrible.

The pictures show a fence on the left side of the road in the area of the crash and a high stone wall on the right ride of the road.

Very sad

Wow... that is really awful. It is a reminder of the danger of the sport and the bravery of these riders... very sad event.

Very sad.

I"ll take the rest of your word about the crash site. I for one prefer not to look at the pictures.

There have been two cyclists killed by vehicles within a few blocks of my home in the last couple of weeks. Not the same as dying in the race, but reminders of cycling risks give me LOTS of caution when I'm out there.

A fellow rider saw the accident and reported that he was looking like he was about to pull ahead, then turned around to see how far back the trailing group of about 20 were. He then either caught the wall with the h-bar or pedal, nobody knows and he was subsequantly launched across the road, landing on his face. Massive injuries to front of head.

He was a terrific competitor and died doing what he loved best.

RIP.

SB

Terrible news!

I normally avoid going on cycling forums until I have watched race coverage because so often people give the result away in spoiler threads which are not marked as such. Last night I broke my rule just before switching the TV on and I am so glad I did. People said that the images were truly horrifying. I deleted my recording without watching it.

R.I.P.

RIP Walter..

I saw the crash aftermath on TV yesterday and Weylandt's face was covered with his helmet, too obvious that it was very serious. From what was reported, he looked rearward and drifted to the right and into the wall. Today there will be a neutralized stage, ie no racing. Yesterday Universal Sports substituted repeat coverage with Walter Weylandt's 2010 stage three win from last year.

FWIW I just heard his partner is five months pregnant. My condolences to his friends and family.

Brad

Very sad indeed...RIP Walter..

Sad. So sad. :(

When this happens it brings the reality of cycling home to all of us. We read about vehicles hitting riders but don't give a lot of thought about individually going down on our own. I read that he was doing most likely between 40-50 mph.

Last summer I was charging down the Kangamangus highway in NH at about 45 mph on ~8% grade when my bike started to oscillate wildly. It took be about a mile to finally gain complete control and prevent my demise. My friends said they slowed to be ready to pick up the pieces. My water bottles went and the riders coming up the mtn jumped off their bikes probably in fear I would be heading their way.

Something like this brings how dangerous cycling can be and how extremely lucky I was... for the 2nd time. I think I will do my best to avoid a third time.

Be safe to all, Pro and enthusiast.

...

Discussing this with a cycling friend I said (as I did above) that I wasn't going to look at the pictures. The friend said, "I did and now I can't get them out of my mind...."

Many of us approach those speeds on downhills - I get to 40 MPH on one local hill. A rock or a stick or an errant fellow rider....I don't have to - I'm not in a race and I could feather the breaks to keep it down to 30. I wonder if I should.....

Looking back on a fast decent can change your line in the blink of an eye. Have done it without the same disastrous results.

Somewhere I read the rider somehow hit something below the helmet on the small of his neck.