Nolf - Unexplained death at Qatar

[girofan]

Is it just my cynical mind or is there something suspicious about the death of Nolf during the night at the Tour of Qatar?

During the nineties there was a spate of deaths by Belgian and Dutch roadmen during the night linked to EPO usage, whereby their blood was so viscous that it brought on cardiac arrest!!!!!!!

Hope this does not turn out to be another victim, and that there is another explanation.

Anyone have more information on this tragic event?

 

[mondobongo]

Unlikely to be any further developments if there is anything sinister until next week after the Autopsy.

 

[Keith Oates]

Why speculate until all the facts are known!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dave5N]

Well said Keith...............................

 

[rich p]

Cyclingnews says this, so that's probably it. RIP

Nolf's father doesn't want autopsy on son
Friederik Nolf died during the Tour of Qatar due to natural causes

Freddy Nolf, father of deceased rider Frederiek Nolf, has said that he does not want to have an autopsy performed on his son. Nolf's body is expected to arrive in Belgium on Tuesday.

"Out of respect for Frederiek, we see no sense" in an autopsy to determine the cause of death, Freddy Nolf told nieuwsblad.be. "He has gone to sleep in a peaceful, natural manner. It is time to leave Frederiek to his rest."

He added, "What will it bring if we learn the exact cause? Nothing. Frederiek will not return because of it."
Belgian and Qatari doctors have already established that he died a natural death, and therefore there is no legal requirement for an autopsy.

 

[kennykool]

Thanks for that Rich

Poor young man! 21 year old - seems so unfair.

Hope thats helped your cynical mind come to terms with this Girofan?

 

[Steve Austin]

People don't just die from natural causes at 21. Was it a heart attack, virus, blood clot etc.
Very sad and speculating does nothing, but he died as a result of something

 

[kennykool]

Of course people die from natural causes at 21 - folk can die of natural causes at ANY age!

Im once played football against a guy who was 26 at the time and he dies of a heart attack on the pitch!

Too many sceptics on this forum!

 

[mondobongo]

Too many sceptics on this forum!

No just realists.

Its incredibly sad that a young man dies at the age of 21, but not unreasonable to enquire exactly why?

Girofan is not the only person to ask if its suspicious, take a look around the other Cycling forums the question is there. Its a sad thing to say but I heard of his death and thought is it drugs.

 

[Noodley]

Im once played football against a guy who was 26 at the time and he dies of a heart attack on the pitch!

In which case there would have been a Post Mortem to establish cause of death.

Why would you not undertake a post mortem examination in this case?

It merely leaves questions unanswered....

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i don't know about belgium, but over here an inquest would be in order, not least in order to eliminate fowl play.

i understand where his father is coming from, but i can't see his wishes doing anything other than prompting raised eyebrows…

 

[rich p]

I'm no medic but if you had a dodgy ticker wouldn't that be more likely to conk out during hard excercise like riding a bike rather than in one's sleep - unless there are other factors involved.

 

[Skip Madness]

over here an inquest would be in order, not least in order to eliminate fowl play.

That only applies to hunting accidents.

 

[Will1985]

Knowing of 2 athletic people aged under 24 who died of SADS, I'm behind the natural causes argument - in both cases nobody had any idea until afterwards when a test determined they had a particular genetic mutation making them susceptible to sudden cardiac arrest. One has a sibling who was also found to have the same gene, and now has a type of pacemaker to resart the heart in the event of an arrest.

It is a sad story, but these things happen. It just happens that in this case the person was a cyclist. What about those young chaps who died playing professional football a couple of seasons ago?

 

[CotterPin]

Posted on the other thread about this topic that young athletes have died because of undetected heart defects and the efforts being made to reduce the risk.

I can understand Nolf's father's wishes but I think that it could have been helpful (and meant that the young man's death wasn't totally pointless) if an autopsy did take place to see if it was the same problem.

On the other hand, the fact that he was Belgian did raise a few suspicions in my mind, especially after reading "Dog in a Hat" over Christmas which implies that doping is endemic in Belgian cycling.