RIP Michael Goolaerts

[CSTRider]

Just a horrible tragedy in such a classic event ... the article also mentions three other pro cycling fatalities over the past 7 years. Has our sport become too dangerous?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/04/09/belgian-cyclist-michael-goolaerts-dies-of-cardiac-arrest-after-crash-during-paris-roubaix-race/?utm_term=.2a0cf276f133

[GregL]

Multiple news sources are reporting that the cardiac event caused the crash, not the other way around. There is also video of his crash which shows him drifting off the left side of the road without any precipitating event (e.g., touch of wheels, bump from another rider, etc...). Cycle sport has always been dangerous.

Greg

[David Tollefson]

Too often the first sign of a cardiac issue is a fatal event. It doesn't mean that the activity is dangerous.

[benb]

Without doing any research at all I bet Pro Cycling is safer than it's ever been.

- They have better helmets than ever before
- The riders aren't using alcohol/tobacco and such which would exacerbate a hidden heart problem
- They're in more communication with the team/cars/doctors
- Better monitoring of the race
- Helicopters to take guys to the hospital, etc..

Just like driving cars or worrying about the safety of children the "good old days" were really the "bad old days".

[timsmcm]

This is horrible news.

[charliedid]

Without doing any research at all I bet Pro Cycling is safer than it's ever been.

- They have better helmets than ever before
- The riders aren't using alcohol/tobacco and such which would exacerbate a hidden heart problem
- They're in more communication with the team/cars/doctors
- Better monitoring of the race
- Helicopters to take guys to the hospital, etc..

Just like driving cars or worrying about the safety of children the "good old days" were really the "bad old days".

Agree, except maybe for the potential of doping.

[crankles]

Agree, except maybe for the potential of doping.

Sadly, my brain jumped there too...back to the days of articles, true or false, of U23 dutch cyclists also having cardiac arrest in the early EPO days.

Such a huge loss.

[charliedid]

Sadly, my brain jumped there too...back to the days of articles, true or false, of U23 dutch cyclists also having cardiac arrest in the early EPO days.

Such a huge loss.

I know. I think the possibility is the scariest part of doping.

Anyway I was just sort of thinking out loud. Horrible when these things happen but it's not really all that uncommon in large sporting events.

I wasn't necessarily jumping to any conclusion.

I actually have a heart defect and had surgery as a child so I think about it a lot.

[Chris]

Agree, except maybe for the potential of doping.

I wouldn't go there. Not just yet anyways. Lots of people die from previously unknown tachycardias. It's not unusual at all.

[charliedid]

I wouldn't go there. Not just yet anyways. Lots of people die from previously unknown tachycardias. It's not unusual at all.

Trust me I know. As per my statement above I was just saying, not concluding anything.

[Black Dog]

Sadly, my brain jumped there too...back to the days of articles, true or false, of U23 dutch cyclists also having cardiac arrest in the early EPO days.

Such a huge loss.

That was a real scary time for the young dutch riders. I was racing across the pond at this time and they were really terrified even to the point of staying up late and running up and down the halls of the hotel to keep their heart rates up while they rehydrated. They were worried that if they went to sleep there hearts would stop due to increased blood viscosity as a result of high RBC and dehydration. Crazy. Stuff like that shelved any delusions of racing at the upper levels for me.

None the less, high performance sports can certainly expose any flaws in our cardiac cycle, especially in younger athletes. A sad day for his team, friends, and family.

[BobO]

A young hockey player in Tucson nearly lost his life due to a tachycardia incident during a pre-game warmup. He did lose a leg and only survived due to a lucky set of circumstances that put him with the right doctor and equipment at the right time. It was terrifying. Unfortunately we don't understand these events well enough yet. Hopefully we learn quickly.

https://www.google.com/amp/tucson.com/sports/roadrunners/here-s-how-tucson-roadrunner-craig-cunningham-cheated-sudden-death/article_746da4fe-5071-5dce-83ca-8156c00a7163.amp.html

It's shocking to see the strongest among us go down suddenly like that. I can only imagine how hard it must be on his parents. My thoughts are with them.

[Anarchist]

Just a horrible tragedy in such a classic event ... the article also mentions three other pro cycling fatalities over the past 7 years. Has our sport become too dangerous?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/04/09/belgian-cyclist-michael-goolaerts-dies-of-cardiac-arrest-after-crash-during-paris-roubaix-race/?utm_term=.2a0cf276f133

Has junior hockey become too dangerous ?


http://nationalpost.com/pmn/sports-pmn/hockey-sports-pmn/cp-newsalert-humboldt-broncos-defenceman-among-15-dead-after-bus-crash


Sometimes, sadly, bad things happen.

[cachagua]

Who's got some numbers? *IS* pro cycling more dangerous now than it used to be? Or less? Career-ending injuries and fatalities year-by-year would be great, decade-by-decade since say the 1950s would at least show a trend... Does the number of pro riders vary enough that we'd have to correct for that?

Seriously. Somebody must have been keeping records, mustn't they? I've been curious about this for a while, and now's as good a time to find out as any.

[jumphigher]

Cycle sport has always been dangerous.

^This sums it up in answering if bike racing has become too dangerous.

[Keith A]

Such sad news...only 23 years young.

[holliscx]

The list of professional cyclists to have died of heart attacks in recent years is surprisingly long:

• In 2004, Belgian Stive Vermaut died at the age of 28 following a heart attack he suffered during a training session. In the 2000 season, he rode alongside Lance Armstrong with the US Postal team.

• Also in 2004, Belgian cross specialist Tim Pauwels died after the 23-year-old suffered cardiac arrest during a minor race in Erpe-Mere, Belgium.

• In 2005, Alessio Galletti fell off his bike in the Spanish race Subida al Naranco and did not get up. The 37-year-old Italian, who rode for the Naturino-Sapore di Mare team, had also succumbed to cardiac arrest.

• In 2009, 21-year-old Frederiek Nolf of the Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator team died in his sleep one night during the Qatar Tour. According to media reports from the time, all of the evidence pointed to the Belgian having suffered a heart attack, however his parents declined an autopsy.

• In 2010, Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen, then 39, suffered cardiac arrest, was placed into an artificial coma, however he survived the incident. The former T-mobile Team rider subsequently ended his racing career.

• In 2012, Rob Goris died of a heart attack in a hotel at the age of 30. Like Goolaerts, the Belgian competed for the Veranda-sponsored team.

• In 2016, 21-year-old Dutch rider Gijs Verdick of Cyclingteam Jo Piels suffered two heart attacks during an under-23 tour in Poland and was placed into an artificial coma. Verdick was brought from Poland to Zwolle in the Netherlands, where he passed away a day after his arrival.

• Also in 2016, the Belgian Daan Myngheer (Team Roubaix Lille Métropole) suffered a heart attack and died during the first stage of the Criterium International, a two-day race in France. He had complained of discomfort during the race and collapsed after seeking medical attention. Myngheer was just 22 years old.

• Just over a year ago, Egyptian cyclist Eslam Nasser Zaki died during the African Continental Track Cycling Championships in South Africa. The 22-year-old fell off his bike on the track in Durban. It was later determined that he too had suffered a heart attack.

This series of heart attacks in professional cycling raises an important question: How can so many highly trained athletes die of heart attacks despite being young, healthy and under regular medical supervision?

source: DW.com / Deutsche Welle

[benb]

I bet you can't easily go back and find records for the first 100 years or so of cycling but the deaths and catastrophic injuries would be just as bad, and guys wouldn't have been coming back from big injuries like broken legs.

Taylor Phinney's broken leg.. 40 years ago I bet he'd have been retired after that broken leg and walk with a cane the rest of his life.

As for doping.. we are thinking the modern era was so dangerous, remember they were doping with even more dangerous stuff like amphetamines back in the "good old days" and they probably didn't have medical supervision. They were just experimenting with dangerous stuff without as much benefit and with little clue as to the side effects. E.x. Tom Simpson, can't blame that one on EPO.

[cadence90]

The list of professional cyclists to have died of heart attacks in recent years is surprisingly long:

[SNIP]

This series of heart attacks in professional cycling raises an important question: How can so many highly trained athletes die of heart attacks despite being young, healthy and under regular medical supervision?

source: DW.com / Deutsche Welle
It is of course terribly sad either way, but it would be good to be clear that heart attacks and cardiac arrests are not the same thing (https://www.aclsmedicaltraining.com/is-it-a-heart-attack-or-cardiac-arrest/), even though the terms are often mistakenly interchanged. It is important to know the differences, in terms of saving lives if for no other reason.
.

[monkeybanana86]

It is of course terribly sad either way, but it would be good to be clear that heart attacks and cardiac arrests are not the same thing (https://www.aclsmedicaltraining.com/is-it-a-heart-attack-or-cardiac-arrest/), even though the terms are often mistakenly interchanged. It is important to know the differences, in terms of saving lives if for no other reason.
.

Good info.


That guy was too young

[54ny77]

that crash video was gut wrenching.

so sad to see.

r.i.p young man.

[CSTRider]

It is of course terribly sad either way, but it would be good to be clear that heart attacks and cardiac arrests are not the same thing (https://www.aclsmedicaltraining.com/is-it-a-heart-attack-or-cardiac-arrest/), even though the terms are often mistakenly interchanged. It is important to know the differences, in terms of saving lives if for no other reason.
.

Excellent info above ... another interesting article: Why doctors misdiagnose heart conditions in athletes (http://www.velonews.com/2017/11/training-center/doctors-misdiagnose-heart-conditions-athletes_451633).

Since the most critical heart related problems in the peloton would likely lead to cardiac arrest, i wonder how many pro support/team caravan vehicles carry a defibrillator?

[cadence90]

Excellent info above ... another interesting article: Why doctors misdiagnose heart conditions in athletes (http://www.velonews.com/2017/11/training-center/doctors-misdiagnose-heart-conditions-athletes_451633).

Since the most critical heart related problems in the peloton would likely lead to cardiac arrest, i wonder how many pro support/team caravan vehicles carry a defibrillator?

Excellent question.

Team vehicles, I don't know, since it doesn't seem they (all) carry medically-qualified personnel as a matter of course.
Race EMTs, certainly so obviously. Goolaerts received cardiac massage and then defibrillation on the scene, even before the helicopter arrived. Sadly still not fast enough.

The rule for heart attack victims is to get to an ER 45-60 minutes maximum before parts of the muscle die permanently.
The rule for cardiac arrest victims is unfortunately counted in seconds and minutes, literally.
.

[a4a]

Such a sad thing. Last summer a former student of mine, a terrific college athlete, died shortly after graduation while playing a pick up game of basketball. He was 24 and in great shape. Just dropped dead. These things unfortunately happen. Like many of you... hope it had nothing to do with doping.