Racing in the Tour de Pologne was suspended on Tuesday, as cycling paid tribute to the life of Bjorg Lambrecht, who died after a crash on Monday.
Lambrecht’s Lotto-Soudal teammates came across the finish line together in a neutralised fourth stage, one also specially adapted to pay tribute to the Belgian rider.
The stage began with a minute’s silence and it was followed by another at 48.5km, the distance at which Lambrecht had crashed the previous day. The 22-year-old is understood to have fallen into a concrete culvert during the third stage, from Chorzow to Zabrze.
Riders from different teams, all wearing black armbands, took it in turn to lead the stage before ceding to the Lotto-Soudal riders. They came together to approach the finish before stepping off their bikes with 50 feet remaining and observing a third minute’s silence. Eventually, they crossed through a black finishing arch, which also featured Lambrecht’s name and his race number, 143.
Lotto-Soudal afterwards paid their own tribute to Lambrecht. “During the 2016 cycling season, as a first year U23, everybody was talking about Bjorg, within and also outside the peloton. Words like ‘pocket climber’, ‘rough diamond’, ‘puncher’, ‘Grand Tour hope’ were used,” the team said in a statement.
“With playful determination, he integrated into the world of professional cycling. Teammates and staff appreciated his work ethic and humility, opponents discovered his talent, and the media appreciated his nuanced but clear story.
“All riders and staff of Lotto-Soudal would sincerely like to thank everybody for their expressions of sympathy in the usually hard top-level sports world. But in the first place, our thoughts go out to the parents, family and friends of Bjorg, who have to endure the greatest burden, a life without Bjorg.”
Lambrecht is the second professional rider to die this year after the Dutchman Robbert de Greef suffered a cardiac arrest in the Omloop van de Braakman. In June, the multiple Tour de France winner Chris Froome also suffered serious injury after a high-speed crash while on a reconnoitre of a stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné.