Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt has died right after crashing during Monday's third stage of the Giro d'Italia.
The Leopard-Trek rider fell at high speed in the course of a descent about 20km (12.four miles) from the finish of the stage from Reggio Emilia to Rapallo.
The 26-year-old lay motionless on the roadside as paramedics tried to resuscitate him."Despite immediate treatment there was absolutely nothing we could do," physician Giovanni Tredici told Italian television."Weylandt was the victim of a fall and we are still attempting to reconstruct the dynamics of what happened.
"We tried for 40 minutes to resuscitate him."
The crash had left Weylandt bloodied and unconscious and requiring cardiac massage.
He received emergency medical treatment by race doctors and was scheduled to be airlifted to hospital but had to wait as an emergency helicopter looked for a suitable landing spot.