Teammates of Bjorg Lambrecht will decide Wednesday morning whether to start stage 5
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Tour de Pologne: Stage 4 was neutralizes out of respect to Bjorg Lambrecht of Belgium and Team Lotto Soudal who died in stage 3 due to an accident(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lotto Soudal lead the peloton through neutralised stage 4 at the Tour de Pologne in memory of their teammate Bjorg Lambrecht(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fans wave Bjorg Lambrecht's bib no. 143 during the neutralised Tour de Pologne stage 4(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Lotto Soudal lead the peloton through neutralised stage 4 at the Tour de Pologne in memory of their teammate Bjorg Lambrecht(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The peloton rode a neutralised stage 4 at the Tour de Pologne out of respect for the loss of Bjorg Lambrecht (Lotto Soudal) who died during an accident on stage 3(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
In a series of tweets posted Tuesday evening to the team's official Twitter account, Lotto Soudal said team management had consulted with riders and staff, "and with the external advice of a trauma specialist," and decided the six remaining riders in the race would have "free choice" of starting stage 5 on Wednesday.
Lotto Soudal said most of the riders indicated they wanted to continue, but the final decisions would come Wednesday morning.
Lambrecht, 22, died Monday after crashing during stage 3 between Chorzów and Zabrze. The young Belgian was taken by ambulance to a hospital in nearby Rybnik, but he passed away during surgery to save his life.
Race organisers neutralised stage 4 of the race, which took place Tuesday on a shortened course. Each team took turns leading the procession before the Lotto Soudal riders led the peloton to the finish.
Speaking with a small group of reporters outside the Lotto Soudal team bus following Tuesday's neutralised homage to the rider, Lotto Soudal General Manager John Lelangue called the situation "a dramatic scenario".
"He's still one of our members," Lelangue said. "He stays as one of us, so we have to go on."
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