Recently I looked at some pictures of cyclists and discovered a folder with pictures of the late Alessio Galletti. I don’t remember much about him, but I remember clearly that he was a friend of Mario Cipollini and that he died, in 2005, of a heart attack during the Subida al Naranco.

It is mysterious that so many athletes die out of heart attacks when they are still (relatively) young. Sometimes they have some kind of heart failure that they didn’t know about. It’s also easy to blame doping to be responsible of their deaths. I won’t blame Galletti for doping, but I must admit that it is easy to think that doping is responsible for many youngsters’ death.

Alessio Galletti had a heart attack when racing in Spain. Apparently his heart didn’t like how he pushed himself. Professional athletes must push themselves hard. Otherwise it is impossible to be a meritorious sportsman. Galletti was near retirement when he died, but there are also cases where young cyclists are dying. Tim Pauwels, Frederiek Nolf, for example.

Tim Pauwels had a heart attack during a cyclo-cross race in Erpe-Mere (in 2004). He missed a corner and fell into a ditch. Later it was known that he had died. His heart had stopped. Sure, there was a slight rumour that his death was connected to doping, but it ended very quickly. All tests of his heart had been good (before his death), so there seemed to be no problem with his heart, either. But the question is, why did he die? What happened? We will never know. Whatever happened, I must say it was tragic.

A better known case is Frederiek Nolf, who died in 2009 Tour of Qatar. He was asleep in the night, but never woke up. He was ready to begin the fifth stage; he had felt fresh in the evening after the fourth stage, thinking that "tomorrow will be a good day". He never found out what the fifth stage would give him. Probably he wouldn’t take a stage victory, but the young fella, who competed for Topsport-Vlaanderen-Mercator, would once again ride with the great and famous pro cyclists, like Tom Boonen, Danilo Napolitano, Heinrich Haussler and Mark Cavendish. It was his first year as a professional. But he had scarcely had time to start the season before it ended.

Sure, there was a small rumour that he had doped and died because of it. It was never a much discussed subject though. However, there is a reason to mention EPO in these contexts. That doesn’t mean that I blame these three riders to have doped. ABSOLUTELY NOT! Still, I think it is important to mention. But I have never examined their bodies, thus I have no basis to say how and why they died.

Doping is not uncommon in sport and there is a known fact that the EPO thickens the blood. Thick blood is difficult for the heart to pump. And thus it is not impossible that the blood could be so thick that the heart stopped beating. As I said, it is a well known fact, and it is easy to forget that doping can actually kill, so it’s worth mentioning.

No autopsy was conducted on Frederiek Nolf's body and thus will never know the cause of his death. Maybe it's good, for those who are dead should rest in peace. I am not quite sure though what I feel about it. Maybe it would be good to conduct an autopsy. It’s not normal for 20 year olds to die, especially not of a heart attack. He could have died of a genetic cardiac condition, but wouldn’t it be good to know too? Of course, it is his parents' choice and nobody can blame them for having done wrong.

In any case, what are your thoughts about deaths in sport?