Garmin-Cervélo sprinter Tyler Farrar will travel back to Belgium after the neutralised fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia, as he is devastated over the loss of Wouter Weylandt yesterday. The two sprinters were very close friends and training partners, with Farrar living in Weylandt’s home city of Gent during the cycling season, and the American has been hit harder than many by the Belgian’s sudden death.
Yesterday evening, Farrar released the following statement, via the Garmin-Cervélo team:
“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. His death marks and irreparable change in my life but more importantly, in the lives of his family and most loved.
“Wouter was one of the kindest, funniest, and most admirable people I have ever had the opportunity to know and his death is a tragedy to his family, his friends, and to the sport as a whole. 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 morn his death in equal measure.
“Wouter was and is the soul of this sport we all love – an athlete who sacrificed himself for the better of many and a champion who celebrated each glory as a victory for his family, his team, and his friends and fans.
“I will remember him always, and will always strive to do him proud, as he has always done for the sport and people he loves.”
According to several media sources this morning, including Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsbald, Farrar will ride today’s stage, which is neutralised in memory of Weylandt, before leaving the race.
“Afterwards, Tyler will travel back to Belgium with a masseur from the team, who will assist him in this difficult time,” a Garmin-Cervélo statement reads.