Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt died Monday after a high-speed downhill crash at the Giro d’Italia, the first rider to be killed in a major cycling race in 16 years.

Maria Paola Vercesi, a spokeswoman for race organizer RCS Sport, confirmed the death of the 26-year-old Weylandt to The Associated Press.

Weylandt fell during a descent 12.4 miles from the finish in northern Italy and lay motionless and bleeding heavily on the roadside before paramedics removed his helmet and tried to resuscitate him.

”We arrived immediately as we were behind his group,” Giro doctor Giovanni Tredici said. ”He was unconscious with a fracture of the skull base and facial damage. After 40 minutes of cardiac massage we had to suspend the resuscitation because there was nothing more we could do.

”Weylandt was the victim of a fall and we are still trying to reconstruct the dynamics of what happened. We tried immediately but he was already unconscious, his condition was already compromised.”

The Leopard-Trek rider’s body was covered by a sheet and taken away by ambulance about an hour after the accident.

”We lost a great teammate and a true friend today,” the team said on Twitter. ”Our thoughts are with Wouter’s family and friends.”

”Things like this shouldn’t happen. Absolutely sick to the stomach,” British cyclist Mark Cavendish said on Twitter. ”My thoughts are with his family. RIP Wouter Weylandt.”

Weylandt was the first rider killed in a crash in one of cycling’s three main tours since Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died during the 1995 Tour de France.

At the Giro, Weylandt is the fourth cyclist to die during the race and the first in 25 years. Orfeo Ponsin died in 1952, Juan Manuel Santisteban in 1976 and Emilio Ravasio in 1986.

Monday’s third stage, 107-mile ride from Reggio Emilia to Rapallo, was won by Angel Vicioso of Spain. On May 10, 2010, Weylandt won the third stage of the Giro on its final day in the Netherlands.

-AP