Teams will each lead the peloton for 10km with Leopard Trek honoured at the finish
The fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia, between Genoa Quarto dei Mille and Livorno, will not be competitive, Angelo Zomegnan, the director of the race has announced. The 216km around the Tyrrhenian coast will instead be ridden in a neutralised fashion in memory of Belgian sprinter Wouter Weylandt, who tragically died during yesterday’s stage.
“All night we exchanged phone calls and we came up with a plan that is dear to all riders,” Zomegnan said before the start this morning. “As we said yesterday the Giro would respect their wishes and their intentions.
“After a minute of silence at the start line, there will be a rifle salute that ends the silence, then the riders will get on their bikes and all will go to the Galsini Hospital [in Genoa] to give a few minutes of their time to the sick children.”
While the stage will not be competitive it will still be necessary for the peloton to travel at a reasonable pace, so as not to arrive at the finish town of Livorno too late. So as to ensure that no one team has to do too much, and to make sure that each rider gets to pay his respects, Zomegnan and the teams have come up with a plan.
“In the 216km stage from Quarto dei Mille to Livorno, each team will pull for 10km each,” he explained, “in order to make the entire journey and get to Livorno within the timeframe. In the last part of the route the pink jersey [David Millar – ed] will deliver the eight riders of Leopard [Trek] so that they reach the finish line together.”
The eight remaining Leopard Trek riders will all cross the line together, in memory of their fallen teammate, just as the Motorola team did at the Tour de France in 1995, following the death of Fabio Casartelli.