Myngheer, Demoitie deaths cast pall over Belgium
BELGIAN cycling suffered a double blow in 24 hours with Daan Myngheer’s death on Monday from a heart attack following that a day earlier of Antoine Demoitie, killed in an accident.
“A very sad week for the world of cycling,” said Swiss Fabian Cancellara in an outpouring of emotion among fellow riders.
Both riders were trained by the same coach Kristof De Kegel, who reacted with disbelief: “The cycling gods are too hard! I’ve lost two great talents but above all two very warm people.”
Myngheer, 22, the 2011 Belgian junior champion who only turned professional last year, suffered the heart attack on Saturday after pulling up in the first stage of the Criterium International in Corsica.
He passed away at 7:08pm on Monday in a hospital in Ajaccio, on the island’s west, surrounded by his family and his partner Emely, his team Roubaix Metropole Lille said.
“It’s with great emotion that we announce the death of Daan,” his team said in a statement. “He lost his last race after battling like a great champion.”
His death was another blow to Belgian cycling after 25-year-old Demoitie was killed in a collision with a motorbike during the Gent-Wevelgem race through northern France on Sunday.
The 25-year-old member of Belgian second-division team Wanty-Gobert fell 150 kilometers into the Gent-Wevelgem race, in Sainte-Marie-Cappel.
He was then hit by a motorbike while on the ground, before being transported to a hospital in Lille where he succumbed to his injuries. The motorcyclist was questioned by police in Dunkirk but later released.
Myngheer, who would have turned 23 on April 13, pulled up after just over an hour of racing in the first stage of the race at Porto-Vecchio on Saturday.
“Daan couldn’t breathe... he was perspiring a lot. The race doctors saw immediately that it was serious. We have to thank the organizers for the speed with which they reacted. Daan was conscious when he got into the ambulance,” said team manager Daniel Verbrackel.
He suffered the heart attack while in the ambulance, before being transferred by helicopter to hospital in Ajaccio where he was put on artificial respiration and fell into a coma.
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