Belgian cyclist Nolf found dead

[puffin]

Belgian cyclist Frederiek Nolf has died in his sleep only hours after riding the fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar.

The 21-year-old was a member of the Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator team, which has now pulled out of the event.

"Our thoughts are with Frederiek's family, his girlfriend and his mates," said a team statement.

As a mark of respect, today's fifth stage has been shortened to 40km and neutralised, meaning that it will not be contested by the riders.

British cyclists Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, Roger Hammond and Ben Swift are among the riders involved in the tour, which finishes on 6 February.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/7871736.stm

It's a shock when an athlete dies young like this.

[flatandy]

Hmm. It's surprising how dangerous cycling is. Lots and lots of pro cyclists seem to die young. Often from heart conditions. The kind caused by too thick blood. Hmmm.

[Libby]

Very sad and so very young. His poor family. These sports can take a terrible toll on people's health, the training is so tough. It puts so much strain on their hearts and other
internal organs.

[jonren]

They also die young when pumped full of anabolic steroids and other assorted drugs.

[Libby]

True! In search of the superfit body i guess!

[luckysprite]

no ....in search of trying to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents usually (i.e. cheating)

[flatandy]

You're not suggesting that being full of a blood thickening agent like EPO, which is designed to increase oxygen bearing capacity in the blood-stream, can lead to cyclists' hearts stopping?

Gosh.

Whatever next? Rumours of them being told to wake up every 2 hours to exercise for 15 minutes to make sure the blood flow remained good?

[Libby]

Hmmmm! !?!?!?!?!