Belgian Cyclist Wouter Weylandt Dies After Downhill Crash

(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - Wouter Weylandt, a 26-year-old Belgian cyclist, died today during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia. Weylandt fell at high speed during a descent, and paramedics were unable to revive him despite getting to him immediately.

After the crash, YouTube was flooded with videos from foreign news agencies that showed paramedics’ efforts to resuscitate him. Some of the videos are disturbing, and show medical workers removing Weylandt’s helmet as he lay motionless and bloodied.

Here’s how Sky Sports 24 in Italy reported the incident:



“We arrived immediately as we were behind his group,” Giovanni Tredici, a doctor at the scene, said. “He was unconscious with a fracture of the skull base and facial damage. After 40 minutes of cardiac massage we had to suspend the resuscitation because there was nothing more we could do.”