VeloNation looks back on the all too short career of the likeable Belgian sprinter
Everyone in cycling was devastated to hear the news of the sudden, tragic death of Wouter Weylandt during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia. The likeable sprinter from Gent, Belgium, with the broad grin and unmistakeable spiky hair, which added inches to his six-foot frame, passed away after a serious crash on the fast, twisting descent of the Passo del Bocco.
VeloNation looks back at his sadly truncated career.
Born in the city of Gent, in the epicentre of Belgian cycling, on September 27th, 1984, Weylandt tried a number of different sports before settling on cycling at the age of 15. He enjoyed a considerable amount of success as he made his way up the age categories until in September 2004, still aged just 19, he was taken on as a stagiere by the Quick Step-Davitamon team.
He immediately showed promise at the sport’s elite level, taking 13th in the GP Jef Scherens and 12th overall in the Circuit Franco-Belge, and the team offered him a full contract.
Unfortunately, his full professional career didn’t have the best of starts as, while training in Australia for the Tour Down Under, he was diagnosed with mononucleosis and missed most of the season while he recovered. Returning to racing in late August, Weylandt once again impressed in a number of the end of season races; once again he was strong in Franco-Belge, finishing seventh, as well as fifth places in both the GP Rik Van Steenbergen and the National Sluitingsprijs.
2006 started much better, with second place in the Nokere Koerse the pick of his early results. The season was filled with podium places and top ten results and, while he was still awaiting his first professional win, he spent a day in the lead of the Tour of Poland and ended the race in the points jersey.
If 2006 was a year of development for Weylandt, 2007 was when he really broke through. In March he finally took his first win in Quick Step colours in the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, following it two weeks later with the Ronde van Het Groene Hart. He also managed to take the opening stage of the Tour of Belgium, but the pick of his seven victories that year was a stage of the Eneco Tour, part of the sport’s ProTour.
2008 started similarly well for Weylandt with a win in the Nokere Koerse; while it was his only victory of the spring though, he took third in Gent-Wevelgem, and was becoming an integral part of the team that was delivering Belgian superstar Tom Boonen to success in races like Paris-Roubaix.
That September Weylandt was to ride his first ever Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España; he promptly won a stage.
While 2009 started well, with his usual strong spring results and Boonen’s second successive victory at Paris-Roubaix, his own results in the summer were not what he had previously expected and he finished his season midway through the Vuelta a España.
A knee injury over the winter saw a slow start to Weylandt’s 2010 season, the bright spot being a fifth place in the Scheldeprijs. His season was kickstarted though, and his career revived, by victory in the third stage of the Giro d’Italia in Middelburg, Netherlands. He left the race early, suffering from dehydration, but had established himself as a worthy back up to Boonen, who missed much of the year with a knee injury of his own.
He missed out on a last minute call to the Tour de France to replace Boonen, as he was not listed on the team’s original long list, but he rode another strong Vuelta and was now looking around for new ambitions.
The new Leopard Trek team, set up around Luxembourg stars Fränk and Andy Schleck offered him the opportunity to be his own man in the races where he played a supporting role at Quick Step; to be able to race for himself in the big classics, as well as develop further as a sprinter.
Weylandt’s first season with his new team started in its usual strong manner, albeit with a little less emphasis on the small Belgian races. A strong showing in the “Openingsweekend” of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne augured well for the big races to come. A finishing straight crash in the Scheldeprijs though, meant that he was to ride Paris-Roubaix in pain and was unable to support Fabian Cancellara’s bid for victory.
With Leopard Trek’s principle sprinter Daniele Bennati breaking his collarbone in the Tour de Romandie, Weylandt was to be the team’s best chance of a victory in the Giro; ninth place in the first sprint of the race on stage two, after being second across the intermediate sprint, line, showed he was on good form.
Tragically though, the very next day, in a piece of horrible symmetry with the equivalent stage he won last year, he went down on the descent of the Passo del Bocco and died of his injuries.
He leaves his girlfriend An Sophie, who is expecting their first child in September.