Former Dutch bicycle owner Lieuwe Westra, runner-up to Bradley Wiggins within the 2012 Paris-Nice, has died aged 40 after a life-long battle with depression, his biographer and Dutch media introduced on Sunday.
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Westra was a part of the Astana crew that helped elevate Vincenzo Nibali to victory within the Tour de France in 2014.
That season he picked up stage wins within the Tour of Catalonia and the Criterium du Dauphine.
Nicknamed ‘the Beast’ for his unrelenting driving type Westra’s physique was discovered at his enterprise premises on Saturday close to the northwest Dutch metropolis of Enkhuizen, native broadcaster Omrop Fryslan stated, quoting household sources.
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“Lieuwe Westra, 40, died on Saturday afternoon,” his biographer Thomas Sijtsma tweeted.
“Over the last few years the former rider fought a battle with himself and lost,” Sijtsma stated, including “Rest softly, Beast”.
Born in Friesland in 1982, Westra in 2009 turned skilled, becoming a member of the Vacansoleil crew.
The former street employee in his first yr gained the Tour de Picardie and was earmarked to have the potential to develop into one of many nice riders from the Netherlands.
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He took his first WorldTour victory with a stage win within the 2012 Paris-Nice race, ending second total behind Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France winner Wiggins.
Lieuwe Westra give up biking in 2017
Westra additionally gained the Tour of Denmark that very same yr in addition to successful the primary of two nationwide time-trial titles.
In 2017 he unexpectedly stepped away from his skilled biking profession.
“Westra gave personal reasons for his decision. The previous autumn he admitted suffering from depression, partly due to a broken relationship, while he also doubted his existence as a professional cyclist,” the ANP nationwide information company stated.
Westra additionally admitted in a 2018 biography that he used the controversial substance cortisone throughout his profession.
“I injected it into my own body to be able to cycle faster, to win prizes and to get compliments,” Westra stated in his ebook.
“You need to seek the boundaries of what is acceptable if you wanted to compete with the big boys,” Westra stated.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
