# Frederiek Nolf, dead at 21



## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Maybe it's horrible to bring this up so early, but...

An endurance athlete with no prior health concerns, in a great/happy mood goes to sleep on the 4th day of a 5 day stage race. The next morning, DS finds him dead. Heart attack; 21 years old. Best condition of his life.

So, the accusations will be thrown out. EPO? He got dehydrated, blood thickened, had a heart attack, and died. How many 21 year old cyclists die of a heart attack for apparently no reason?

At least it was a peaceful way to go?

http://velonews.com/article/87314/rider-found-dead-in-qatar-hotel


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## rogger (Aug 19, 2005)

For feck's sake google "cardiac arrest athletes", it happens more often than you'd might expect.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

iliveonnitro said:


> How many 21 year old cyclists die of a heart attack for apparently no reason?


For apparently no reason? Give me a break. Nowhere in that article does it say he died of a heart attack. Other articles I found say "suspected heart attack," but nobody knows until they do an autopsy.


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## Einstruzende (Jun 1, 2004)

Rightly or wrongly, I suspected something fishy when I first read of this (a few minutes ago). One part of me wants to believe it something fishy, as I don't like the idea of living a clean life and still dying of a heart attack.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Sudden cardiac arrest happens while playing a sport, not during one's sleep. Even if it was, the problem is, how do you know if this was truely "sudden" or if it was due to drugs? It's worse for endurance athletes, as the typical blood test on an autopsied body doesn't exactly check for EPO (or even testosterone/etc) -- especially in non-cycling cases. Maybe the UCI/ASO can run that one.

I can't help but think that a 21yr old Belgian rider looking to make a leap into the big time had some help on this. It's not like doping has been historically condemned within the peloton...

mohair - if it wasn't wasn't a heart attack, what could it possibly be?


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## rogger (Aug 19, 2005)

Sudden death has been defined as "an abrupt unexpected death of cardiovascular cause, in which the loss of consciousness occurs within 1 to 12 hours of onset of symptoms" (1, 2). The majority of sudden deaths in athletes occur during or immediately after exercise (game, conditioning, training, etc). *However, some deaths occur at rest or during sleep.*

http://www.suddendeathathletes.org/about_sdia.asp


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2009)

his father died at 30 of a heart condion..


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## bauerb (Jan 18, 2006)

my buddy in college died suddenly of a heart defect. What makes this story "fishy" is that he is a pro cyclist, and this has happened before, and everyone loves to rubber neck. the autopsy will reveal the facts, assuming they are made public,


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

superfly-2008 said:


> his father died at 30 of a heart condion..


Wow, hmm.. Do you have more info on this?


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## Digger28 (Oct 9, 2008)

Hey guys, I think we should hold fire on this one. Here in Ireland, a very well known Irish football player, top class athlete, died in his sleep at the age of 24. That happened in 2004.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

iliveonnitro said:


> mohair - if it wasn't wasn't a heart attack, what could it possibly be?


Are you kidding? It could lots of things. A stroke. Aortic dissection. The list of possibilities is endless. Until they do an autopsy, nobody knows. Anyone who says they know is guessing.


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## jupiterrn (Sep 22, 2006)

Lots of reasons to die in your sleep. The heart is a pretty complicated piece of equipment. It doesn't take a lot to kick it into a deadly arrhythmia. Electrolyte imbalance comes to mind real quickly, then again I can think of about 100 other reasons someone can be found dead in the bed.


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## lookrider (Dec 3, 2006)

jupiterrn said:


> Lots of reasons to die in your sleep. The heart is a pretty complicated piece of equipment. It doesn't take a lot to kick it into a deadly arrhythmia. Electrolyte imbalance comes to mind real quickly, then again I can think of about 100 other reasons someone can be found dead in the bed.


Yeah, that family history is difficult to overcome. The stress of riding like a maniac didn't help him I'm sure.


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## function (Jun 20, 2008)

Einstruzende said:


> Rightly or wrongly, I suspected something fishy when I first read of this (a few minutes ago). One part of me wants to believe it something fishy, as I don't like the idea of living a clean life and still dying of a heart attack.


I wouldn't necessarily believe that daily high intensity exercise will result in longer term health, i'm sure there are risks involved. For example, the following study concludes that high intensity exercise may increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=77820


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## papisimo9807 (May 7, 2007)

Had to admit that my mind initially jumped to EPO use and the early 90s. If indeed it is true his father died young as well from a heart condition, then its a whole different ballgame.


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## DMFT (Feb 3, 2005)

*Truly sad.*

That ANYONE at this point is flying the doping flag over this tradgedy.

Especially without so much as an autopsy proving foul play. Some "people"....  


R.I.P Young Frederiek Nolf.


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## Henry Porter (Jul 25, 2006)

iliveonnitro said:


> Sudden cardiac arrest happens while playing a sport, not during one's sleep. Even if it was, the problem is, how do you know if this was truely "sudden" or if it was due to drugs? It's worse for endurance athletes, as the typical blood test on an autopsied body doesn't exactly check for EPO (or even testosterone/etc) -- especially in non-cycling cases. Maybe the UCI/ASO can run that one.
> 
> I can't help but think that a 21yr old Belgian rider looking to make a leap into the big time had some help on this. It's not like doping has been historically condemned within the peloton...
> 
> mohair - if it wasn't wasn't a heart attack, what could it possibly be?


Your sympathetic system kicks in when you wake up which will increase the cardiac output which explains why most MIs occur in the morning. A possibility.

Interesting read on issues such as this: http://slate.msn.com/id/2210332/


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## papisimo9807 (May 7, 2007)

DMFT, I understand your sentiment, but please get off your soapbox.:thumbsup: 
*"Speculation? He is a cyclist, so you know there will always be that. We have to wait for the autopsy for more information," Merckx said to Cyclingnews.*
In the last 30 years, when an elite athlete passes away at such a young age, more often then not it has been due to foul play. 
I hope not in the case and feel awful for his family.



DMFT said:


> That ANYONE at this point is flying the doping flag over this tradgedy.
> 
> Especially without so much as an autopsy proving foul play. Some "people"....
> 
> ...


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## lookrider (Dec 3, 2006)

papisimo9807 said:


> DMFT, I understand your sentiment, but please get off your soapbox.:thumbsup:
> *"Speculation? He is a cyclist, so you know there will always be that. We have to wait for the autopsy for more information," Merckx said to Cyclingnews.*
> In the last 30 years, when an elite athlete passes away at such a young age, more often then not it has been due to foul play.
> I hope not in the case and feel awful for his family.


Yeah, agreed. The sad part is the fact that the guy died at 21, not that anyone is speculating on the cause which is only natural. I love the self appointed thought police.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

lookrider said:


> Yeah, agreed. The sad part is the fact that the guy died at 21, not that anyone is speculating on the cause which is only natural. I love the self appointed thought police.


Agreed.

It's obvious that there will be speculation when a 21yr old superior athlete, a cyclist nonetheless, dies in his sleep at a race. Let's just not hope it is because of "foul play."

Doping or not, it's a huge tragedy.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

superfly-2008 said:


> his father died at 30 of a heart condion..


His father just requested that no autopsy be performed. Don't make stuff up.


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

any updates on this? I can't find anything thru google, but you guys seem to be able to find the obscure cycling bits easier.


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## Guest (Feb 9, 2009)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/feb09/feb09news2

Scroll part way down and it talks about the father requesting that no autopsy be done. Apparently since the death was ruled to be of natural causes none is required.


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

Not sure I agree with that. What if they find some defect in the heart that they didn't know to look for and can prevent this in the future. Loads of people are dying in endurance events these days. Someone has to figure out what is at the root of this.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

culdeus said:


> Not sure I agree with that. What if they find some defect in the heart that they didn't know to look for and can prevent this in the future. Loads of people are dying in endurance events these days. Someone has to figure out what is at the root of this.


Ehem <clears throat>


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## Stasera (Mar 6, 2006)

kytyree said:


> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/feb09/feb09news2
> 
> Scroll part way down and it talks about the father requesting that no autopsy be done. Apparently since the death was ruled to be of natural causes none is required.


When the cyclingnews article says, "Belgian and Qatari doctors have already established that he died a natural death, and therefore there is no legal requirement for an autopsy," I think what it means is that because there was no sign of foul play, no autopsy is required under the law, as it would be in a criminal case. 

Without an autopsy, they can't possibly have conclusively ruled out doping as a contributing factor in the death.


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## Aquamarinos (Mar 27, 2008)

What, if his family don't want him cut after REAL doctors called his death as a natural one?
Show some respect.


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## sabre104 (Dec 14, 2006)

Looks like poppa knew his son was using and doesn't want the facts coming out.


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## DMFT (Feb 3, 2005)

sabre104 said:


> Looks like poppa knew his son was using and doesn't want the facts coming out.


- Now that's a serious lack of respect and pretty uncalled for. Even in the doping forum.
Evidently, "facts" don't matter to everyone.....


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

DMFT said:


> - Now that's a serious lack of respect and pretty uncalled for. Even in the doping forum.
> Evidently, "facts" don't matter to everyone.....


Apparently the facts don't matter to Frederiek's dad either.


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## DMFT (Feb 3, 2005)

bigpinkt said:


> Apparently the facts don't matter to Frederiek's dad either.


Was it one of YOUR family members that just died??? Don't think so. Give the family a break and maybe show some respect by filtering your thoughts and keep them to your self for a while.

Some "people" are pretty sad excuses for "human beings".


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## Henry Porter (Jul 25, 2006)

DMFT said:


> Was it one of YOUR family members that just died??? Don't think so. Give the family a break and maybe show some respect by filtering your thoughts and keep them to your self for a while.
> 
> Some "people" are pretty sad excuses for "human beings".


It does seem rather bizarre for the father to not want a cause of death since it is extremely helpful to deal with the tragedy with the facts as we know them.


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## DMFT (Feb 3, 2005)

Henry Porter said:


> It does seem rather bizarre for the father to not want a cause of death since it is extremely helpful to deal with the tragedy with the facts as we know them.


- Sure it seems bizarre to those of us who haven't had a family member recently pass away. I for one wouldn't have any idea what to do if that happened to my family except mourn their loss.

Again, people can (and do) speculate all they want. What they should do is show some respect for the deceased and his family right now. How hard is that to figure out???


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## Henry Porter (Jul 25, 2006)

DMFT said:


> - Sure it seems bizarre to those of us who haven't had a family member recently pass away. I for one wouldn't have any idea what to do if that happened to my family except mourn their loss.
> 
> Again, people can (and do) speculate all they want. What they should do is show some respect for the deceased and his family right now. How hard is that to figure out???


I understand your point of view completely, just saying it is an unusual decision for a family member to just refuse an autopsy in a case like this (again from what we know). Plus this athlete put himself into the public sphere so these things will happen. I don't know whether he doped or not but do know it's a tragedy that all here would like to prevent from happening again.


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## DMFT (Feb 3, 2005)

bigpinkt said:


> Apparently the facts don't matter to Frederiek's dad either.


- This coming from a guy who cheered in another thread on this website that Rolf Aldag is a "cool guy" ??? Evidently besides being cynical you're also a bit of a hippocrite. 
Kind of shocking for someone so outspoken about doping. He did harbor a bunch of dopers at Telekom/T-Mobile didn't he bigpinkt???  

But really, maybe this needs a thread of it's own and shouldn't muddy-up a thread about a person who doesn't have a shred of evidence against him being a doper, just some speculation you know??? 

Maybe you should think about what you write about the deceased and stop looking like a.......... :thumbsup:


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## lookrider (Dec 3, 2006)

DMFT said:


> Again, people can (and do) speculate all they want. What they should do is show some respect for the deceased and his family right now. How hard is that to figure out???


People usually want to know why their super fit 21 year old son just dropped dead.

No?


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## Guest (Feb 10, 2009)

_"What will it bring if we learn the exact cause? Nothing. Frederiek will not return because of it."_

-Freddy Nolf (the rider's father)


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## Henry Porter (Jul 25, 2006)

kytyree said:


> _"What will it bring if we learn the exact cause? Nothing. Frederiek will not return because of it."_
> 
> -Freddy Nolf (the rider's father)


The answer to that question is knowledge that may help other members of the family.


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## DMFT (Feb 3, 2005)

lookrider said:


> People usually want to know why their super fit 21 year old son just dropped dead.
> 
> No?


- Hey look! Another "person" throwing dirt on someone who has never been linked to doping. 

What part of "It's not your decision or business to decide" what his family does do you NOT understand???  

Get a grip on reality. Really, I know it's the "internet" and all so "people" can say whatever they want. But go look in the mirror, then think about the inuendo you so loosely and easily throw around about the deceased.


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## ultimobici (Jul 16, 2005)

superfly-2008 said:


> his father died at 30 of a heart condion..


So he said this from beyond the grave?
_



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.

Nolf is scheduled to be buried in his hometown of Kuurne, and organisers of the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne race on March 1 have already scheduled a tribute to him. "During the neutral phase we will make a detour along the Hulsestraat to stop at Frederiek Nolf's parents' house. We will make a tribute to him there, assuming that Freddy and Mimi Nolf agree to it," said race secretary Filiep Verhelst.

Nolf's memory will also be honoured in Qatar, as the race organisers there have announced that future winners of the fifth stage will receive the "Frederiek Nolf Trophy." Nolf died before the fifth stage of this year's race.(SW)

Click to expand...

_Or is it his stepfather?


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## lookrider (Dec 3, 2006)

DMFT said:


> - Hey look! Another "person" throwing dirt on someone who has never been linked to doping.


Cute insult! I wonder if you'd say it was "natural causes" if you wrote his obituary.



DMFT said:


> What part of "It's not your decision or business to decide" what his family does do you NOT understand???


Who ever said it was anyone's decision here? This kid was enough of a prominent person to get his death reported all over the world, and we all know why that is. If you say you don't know what the suspicions are, and they haven't crossed your mind, you're a liar.



DMFT said:


> Get a grip on reality. Really, I know it's the "internet" and all so "people" can say whatever they want. But go look in the mirror, then think about the inuendo you so loosely and easily throw around about the deceased.


Give it a rest, huh. If you haven't come to terms with your own mortality, do so. Innuendo? News media all around the world made an editorial decision to report this story and everyone knows what the suspicions are.

It's funny how someone goes to "work" as a Professional bike racer hoping to achieve some level of distinction, but when they distinguish themselves by dropping dead at 21, it's supposed to be ignored? Then we need the silence enforced by the thought police and the guardians of false civility.

If the kid was an electrician or construction worker, do you think this story would have been reported outside of the local media?


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

DMFT said:


> Was it one of YOUR family members that just died??? Don't think so. Give the family a break and maybe show some respect by filtering your thoughts and keep them to your self for a while.
> 
> Some "people" are pretty sad excuses for "human beings".


I have had two VERY close friends die in very similar manner, that is why I think there should be some type of autopsy.

One was a teammate and close friend who was one of the top juniors in the nation. He had a huge future in from of him. We trained and working in the same shop and were very close. When he was was 20 years old, during a routine check up for the season, they discovered a heart issue and was told he could never do any exertion again. His athletic life was over. About a year later he had an infection in his liver, it was too much for his heart to take and he died. 20 years later and when former teammates get together he is one of the first things we talk about. It was like loosing a brother.

Another close friend, who I trained with 2-3 times a week for years, dropped dead from a heart attack only 3 months after finishing Ironman Hawaii. I have his Ironman number on my desk and I look at it every day. 

In both cases we struggled to understand how it could happen and wanted to find out the cause. When a 21 year old professional athlete, who has just performed extensive testing, you should want to know how it happened. I personally do NOT think it is dope. If an autopsy can help understand the cause and how it was missed then perhaps it will saves others and insure that other fathers do not share Mr. Nolf's pain in losing a son.


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

DMFT said:


> - This coming from a guy who cheered in another thread on this website that Rolf Aldag is a "cool guy" ??? Evidently besides being cynical you're also a bit of a hippocrite.
> Kind of shocking for someone so outspoken about doping. He did harbor a bunch of dopers at Telekom/T-Mobile didn't he bigpinkt???


Not sure what Rolf has to do with this thread.

Unlike many others Rolf admitted to his mistakes when he did not have to. He has worked hard to change the culture of the sport.


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## function (Jun 20, 2008)

It's rather sickening how much self righteousness there is going on in this forum. Give it a rest.


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