Terrible news from Tour of Qatar

[Apples]

DOHA, Feb 5, 2009 (AFP) - A Belgian cyclist, Frederiek Nolf, competing in the Tour of Qatar has been found dead in his bedroom Thursday morning prior to stage five, one of the race chiefs, Eddy Merckx, announced.
Nolf, a member of the Topsport Vlaanderen team, was found dead by teammate Kristof Goddaert on the 14th floor of the hotel room they shared at the Ritz-Carlton.
Organisers of the race, ASO (Amaury Sports Organisation) later confirmed the death of Nolf
The Belgian rider, who turned professional last year, would have celebrated his 22nd birthday on February 10.
Goddaert said he found Nolf him unconscious and tried, in vain, to wake him before alerting team officials and a team doctor.
"I tried shaking Frederiek's leg and told him to waken up. but I quickly realised that something was wrong. I took his hand but it was cold and there was no pulse," said team manager Jean-Pierre Heynderrickx
According to Merckx Thursday's fifth stage - from the Camel Race Track to the Doha Foundation - will be 'neutralised' out of respect for Nolf.
"Out of respect for Frederiek Nolf, the riders will form a cortege throughout the stage," said Merckx.
The Belgian cycling legend added: "I spoke to his team manager
(Heynderrickx) who told me there was nothing to indicate that something like this could happen. Yesterday (Wednesday) Frederiek seemed in good health."
Nolf's body was to be quickly repatriated to Belgium where his parents and fiancee had been informed of his death. An autopsy would follow to determine the causes of death
The last time a cyclist died in his sleep was in 2003 when Frenchman Fabrice Salanson, 23, died in similar circumstances at the Tour of Germany.

[-Adam-]

Yes, I was just about to post this news.

Very sad indeed. Particularly sobering considering he was just a few months older than myself.

Reminded me of John Ibbotson.

[Sylv]

Sh*t

And then this http://www.velonews.com/article/87316/d ... ts-suicide

(not making any parallels just came across when reading about Nolf)

[-Adam-]

Yeah, he was mentioned on Eurosport too.

Strange day, the latest on cyclingnews is that the manager found the Nolf this morning. Having knocked on all the riders rooms, he went back to Nolf's as their had been no response. His team mate was up, but not Nolf. The manager shook his leg, but he did not move. He felt his hand and it was cold.

All the teams stay in the same hotel in Qatar too, so they would have all been aware within minutes of his discovery. Not a pleasant morning. What they showed of the 40km neutralised stage today, all the riders looked pretty shocked, and genuinely saddened.

[Sylv]

Dupouey was part of the dominating Sunn team when I started mtb in France, my first proper bike was a Sunn

I'm sure Huw might have a story or two that would be great to hear

Sorry for thread hijack ..

[-Adam-]

I was wondering how long it would be before somebody asked that.

I don't really think we should be having this conversation about a rider less than 12 hours after his death. But I know Matt Green (CyclingNews - Jako, now Fuga - Down Under) has raced against the Topsport Vlaanderen Team quite a few times, and he is confident that they, as well as most other teams, are clean. As am I.

I'm sure Marco will have other ideas, but then he always does. There's always going to be the odd few who try it on.

It's not unheard of for young fit athletes to die in this way. I can't remember the actual name for it, but its due to a genetic defect in the heart causing it to stop beating somehow. I'm no expert, but I believe John Ibbotson died in a similar manner.

[-Adam-]

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"]No need to say how clean you are.

[Ben]

For the time being, I'd rather be cynical on a lighter subject. I see in the comic that Ben Swift got dropped in the team trial. Was this, each team member deliberately speeding up on the pull through, giving him no time to recover from his turn. Or actually genuine.