Eleven years after the fateful fall of Wouter Weylandt down the slope of Passo del Bocco, the Giro peloton crosses again today’s conscious climb. Some colleagues who were there on that black day in 2011 recalled Sporza: “A black page was hard to turn.”
Nabali: “Long live the memory of Vouter”
“I remember it was a fast stage. It was a hard descent from Paso del Poco. We didn’t really know what happened behind us. I remember dawn only started after they finished something serious happened.”
“There were no journalists and there was no music. We only heard what happened to Weilandt on the bus. It was a very sad day. The flight the next day was in honor of him. We tried it as best we could.
“It will now be special to drive the Passo del Bocco, just as it was to drive through the Michele Scarponi area earlier this week. The Giro will once again give a great appreciation, and this is important. This is how we keep the memory of Wouter Wellandt alive” .
Pozovevo: “The stage the next day seemed endless”
“I remember it as a very difficult cycling class,” says Domenico Pozofevo, who was in the peloton on that particular day in May 2011. “I think it’s a black page for everyone, and it was hard to fold.”
“We didn’t know anything while riding, until we got the sad news on arrival,” Pozzo recalls. “She’s been mentally tough for several days.”
“The next day was almost unbearable. We had to deal with him during the stage the next day, but it seemed endless. None of us could imagine the pain of his family.”
“I haven’t raced in Water much, but I remember him as a radiant, calm boy, always smiling. It would be great to drive over Paso del Boco. It would be the first time we had been in a long time, it would give you goosebumps.”
Van Emden: ‘Wooter always smells like cologne’
“I’m getting goosebumps again, now that we’ve talked about it,” Jos van Emden opens. “It was horrible. I drove all that day and saw Wouter lying there. I can probably classify that as the lowest point of my career.”
“How did you live that day? There was a dead rider there, you knew that at the time. That made a huge impression.”
“I was only very early in my career at the time, but I would occasionally talk to Water. He always smelled strongly of cologne. I remember we dumped together once in Paris-Nice, but anyway you smell good,” I told him then. .He was a very friendly man.”
“Will I think of him while climbing Paso del Boco? I really hope it doesn’t. When I think of the beautiful tribute, I still get goosebumps.”
The Dutchman concludes, “The documentary on Heat Shieldplotton hasn’t left me the way it is. It’s not fond memories, so I hope I don’t think about it too much.”
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