Riders honour Weylandt
ByReuters
Updated 10/05/2011 at 16:39 GMT
Giro d'Italia cyclists, sporting black armbands, took part in a "stage of respect" for Wouter Weylandt after the Belgian rider was killed in a crash the previous day.
Wouter Weylandt, Leopard Trek - Not in ITxFRAxBEL
Image credit: Imago
Organisers ruled that the day's placings would not count towards the race's final result.
"The stage will be neutralised," Giro director Angelo Zomegnan said at the start of the coastal 216-km stage from Quarto dei Mille to Livorno.
"Each team will race at the front of the pack for 10km."
Weylandt, 26, died after falling off his bike coming down from Passo del Bocco on Monday and suffering multiple injuries.
"It's a terrible day, just as every death in this sport is terrible," Zomegnan added.
Britain's race leader David Millar said: "Wouter was a guy you thought would never die. It is a shock because he was so full of life.
"We have his best friend Tyler Farrar in the team and he's going home tonight because for him it's too much.
"It's not a day for racing for position or for the white (finishing) line on the road," he added.
"We've just got to finish the stage as quickly as we can and ride well out of respect for Wouter."
Riders observed a minute's silence before the stage on Tuesday and a military band played the Last Post.
The eight remaining members of Weylandt's Leopard-Trek team and the leaders of the Giro's four classifications lined up together before the start prior to moving off.
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