Wouter Weylandt

The peloton will ride Tuesday's Giro d'Italia stage four in memory of Wouter Weylandt, who tragically died during Monday's stage to Rapallo.

Riders, teams, race staff and spectators will observe a minute's silence before the stage start in Quarto dei Mille before embarking on the day's 216km route to Livorno. No racing will take place and the whole stage will be neutralised.

Weylandt's Leopard-Trek team issued a brief statement on Tuesday morning saying: "The team will ride today to commemorate our team-mate Wouter. Thank you for all your messages and support."  

Each of the 23 teams will take a turn riding 10km at the front of the bunch, with all riders wearing black armbands. Leopard-Trek will lead into the finish and all of the day's prize money will be donated to Weylandt's family.

On Monday evening, Giro d'Italia race director Angelo Zomegnan had announced that the race would continue despite the tragedy and said: "let the riders of team Leopard, and of all the other ones in the Giro... their choice for tomorrow's stage. Any choice they make, we will respect it."

Tuesday marks the year's anniversary of Weylandt's stage win at the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

Weylandt crashed on the descent of Passo del Bocco 25km from Monday's stage three finish. Despite the efforts of a medical team to revive him at the scene, he was later pronounced dead as a result of severe head injuries.

The 26-year-old Belgian leaves girlfriend An Sophie, who is expecting the couple's first child in September.

Giro d'Italia 2011: Related links

Giro d'Italia 2011: Cycling Weekly's coverage index

Giro d'Italia 2011: Start list

Giro d'Italia 2011: Latest news

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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.