Tyler Farrar had a very difficult period after his good friend Wouter Weylandt died on the 3rd stage of the Giro d'Italia. He quit the race and went home the next day.

Instead of dealing with the loss of his close friend at home in Ghent, Farrar decided to return to Seattle in the USA to avoid having to ride the roads he and Weylandt often trained on.

It was the first time he had been back to his hometown in the spring due to the European racing calendar. There he rediscovered his old training rides but found the long training hours tough as he was 'alone with my thoughts'.

He decided to make his comeback at the Dauphiné but there were few sprint opportunities and Farrar was struggling to find his race legs. However, one week later he won stage two in the Ster ZLM Tour. This win signalled to Farrar that he could ride the Tour de France.

In the first big sprint in the 2011 Tour Farrar gave himself the opportunity to pay tribute for Wouter after the fantastic work of his team. Thor Hushovd and Julian Dean performed a perfect lead-out for him. But it was Farrar who found that extra kick in last most important meters to hold off Rojas and Romain Feillu."

Judge: Raymond Kerckhoffs (DE TELEGRAAF)

IG Markets Pro Cycling Index Stat of the Day:

Tyler Farrar joins an elite group of riders who have won a stage in all three Grand Tours. Farrar has won three Vuelta a España stages, two Giro d'Italia Stages and One Tour de France stage.

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