Vincenzo Nibali pays tribute to the late Lieuwe Westra

Lieuwe Westra and Vincenzo Nibali on the 2014 Tour de France
Lieuwe Westra and Vincenzo Nibali on the 2014 Tour de France (Image credit: Getty)

Vincenzo Nibali has paid tribute to his late teammate Lieuwe Westra, who died on Sunday at the age of 40. Westra was a part of Nibali’s guard on the 2014 Tour de France, most notably shepherding him across the cobbles on the race-defining stage to Arenberg in the opening week.

"Lieuwe was a great lad, he lived for the bike," Nibali wrote in a column in Monday’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport

Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.