Belgian cyclist dies in Tour of Poland

Cycling accidents are no joke. Been in a gruesome one myself.

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he left the asphalt and the tragedy occurred."

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You mean he hit the asphalt, correct?

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Cycling accidents are no joke.

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Their normal speed is pretty intense let alone when they hit a downhill. I'm surprised more of these pile ups and crashes don't result in more serious injury than they do at times.

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Went over a cliff?

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Article said he was on a flat run but it's also confusing why they said he hesitated.

Wondering if he had a heart failure and they're just not putting it out there.

ETA - After a quick google, i found this snippet.

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The circumstances of Lambrecht’s fall aren’t clear: Early reports claimed he crashed into a concrete culvert, but race organizers said they don’t yet know exactly what caused the crash. The stage was a flat run across southern Poland from Chorzow to Zabrze, and organizers say Lambrecht was the only rider to fall on the “completely flat” road. Weather may have played a part, as it was quite rainy today. One anonymous rider reportedly said that Lambrecht had his hand raised calling for help shortly before he fell. “We tried to give a heart massage just afterwards, then we called for a helicopter but his condition was so serious it wasn’t able to transport him,” race doctor Ryszard Wisniewski said. Lambrecht was taken to a hospital in an ambulance, where he did not survive emergency surgery.

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Yikes. Sounds like something bad internally happened causing him to lose control before he could slow down? TIA? Heart attack? Heat stroke? Seems unlikely a pro cyclist would just lose control on a flat with no one really blocking.

Sounds like he was having a medical event before the fall.

Tragic. It does seem a miracle there aren’t more bad accidents, but that’s a testament to the amazing bike handling skills of pro riders.

Even if I had the legs and aerobics of the pros, I could never handle the corners and high speed descents at their level.

In general heart failure is extremely unlikely here. Raising his hand was asking for the team car which could indicate a number of things including a mechanical. His attention could have been on clearing his chain etc. Downhills, especially ones that aren't technical are also a time when you are eating/drinking and adjusting your clothing or wrestling with a jacket. There are a million things it could be but a heart attack is pretty far down on the list, now in the height of EPO it would have been more possible, there are stories of guys having to get out of bed in the middle of the night and ride on the trainer to keep their blood flowing because it was thick as molasses completely packed with red blood cells.

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One of the great U23 riders.
Tragedy and a somber day for the sport.
Today’s stage will be ridden neutralized w/ his Lotto Soudal teammates crossing together first.

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reminds me of what happened to Wouter Waylandt in the 2011 Giro. Also a belgian. They were screaming down hill and his pedal clipped a guardrail and it smashed him face first into a rockwall. Race Dr saw it happen right in front of him. They even showed his face very briefly after the crash ( the tv folks had no idea what just happened). Super sad. Dr said afterwards he knew right away he was gone and they did cardiac massage on him for 30 minutes or so trying to prevent the obvious.

All you cyclist baws out there please be careful.