Remembering Wouter Weylandt, 1984-2011

Right On, Taylor! Oh !@$, Taylor!

Forget this kid's Secretariat lineage or the fact he's been hyped as the Next Great American Cyclist since he first dropped his diaper-clad butt on a Big Wheel--after a blazing win in the opening time trial, jailbait phenom Taylor Phinney just cemented his fame in his own right for completely keeping his cool (outwardly, anyway) when the Gazzetta commentators started screaming their heads off 8 k from the line and Taylor materialized 38 monstrous seconds behind the rapidly disappearing peloton with a chain-twiddle that seemed to take his poor mechanics forever a subsequent car-window futz with the brakes and, by the end of a chaotic finish that sent bodies flying up the barriers, Cav'd come out of nowhere looking too surprised to even do his normal victory dance and Taylor'd slipped in, cool as a cucumber, right back to the pack and into what seemed like an impossible pink. Now *that* is one collected boy. Complimenti, Taylor--and you're clearly doing something right with 'im, BMC!

Interestingly, Taylor talks about his new pink bike that would soon cause him trouble, just prior to the stage this morning:


Tomorrow: the fateful stage three, and a touching tribute to the late Wouter Weylandt. Go swift and safe, Tyler Farrar--you did it for him at the Tour, so I've no doubt you can do it again for him here!

What Next For the Giro?

So here's my question: what next for the 2011 Giro? The riders, and race organizers, I think, took a thoughtful, kind and respectful approach to the day. As David Millar rightly pointed out, the maglia rosa, in light of recent events, doesn't mean much right now. And by choosing to ride through today--without the fear and regret and pain it must have entailed--Leopard-Trek and his close friend Tyler Farrar showed grace and courage riding for their fallen teammate and, given the sudden and awful change that's suddenly befallen them, themselves. But the Giro itself *is* going on, and I think that, while each day will be tainted heavily with sadness, and surely the shrill and petty disputes of say stage 2 in which we can all delight in more frivolous times will be minimized out of respect for the gravity of Weylandt's passing and the unhappy awe that death inspires, it's the right thing to do. Will it be easy? Will it feel normal, or just even appropriate at all, celebrating and bussing the podium babaes or screaming in triumph as one crosses the line? Remembering what a hideous, trivial thing I felt like the first time I went shopping for some dopey item weeks after losing someone extremely dear to me, and understanding of course the difference between these situations nonetheless, I imagine it won't. But though Wouter Weylandt didn't die for the Giro, he did die in it, and I hope those members of the peloton who feel they can or must continue can finish it, for all their sakes, with the suffering and pride and excitement--even if just a shadow of the latter--that this magnificent, heartbroken race deserves. And I hope the rest of us insignificant sideshows--the fans, the journalists, hell, even us wiseacre bloggers--can do it too. Not to move past it, which always seems to me a fruitless and maddening exhortation, but just--to move. And I hope that in its own impotent way, that is its own small tribute.

R.I.P. Wouter Weylandt. This Giro, I'm sure, will be for you.

Wouter Weylandt, 1984-2011

26 year old Wouter Weylandt, a Belgian rider on Team Leopard-Trek, passed away today in a tragic accident on the descent of the Bocco in the third stage of the Giro d'Italia, just 25 kilometers from the finish. Weylandt was a talented sprinter with an already-strong palmares and a very fine future ahead of him. He won his first Grand Tour stage at the Vuelta a Espana in 2008, and his second at the 2010 Giro on Stage 3. Wouter leaves his girlfriend Sophie, who is pregnant with their first child.

Here he is in happier times on his bicycle, winning at the Giro last year:

Deepest condolences to his family, friends, team, and the whole peloton on their terrible loss.