Canberra Cyclist Robbie Williams dies during a bunch ride

[Mishrak]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/former-goulburn-sydney-winner-robbie-williams-dies-aged-27

Williams rode with the DFL-Cyclingnews.com-Litespeed team in Belgium before joining Drapac Porsche in 2007 where he would ride to the biggest win of his career with the Goulburn - Sydney, Australia's second-oldest bike race. He made a stunning recovery after being dropped on the last climb of the day, Razorback mountain, to catch up with the leading group of three riders and then launch a stunning attack on the final ride into Camden.

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/news/38850/canberra-cyclist-robbie-williams-passes-away

CN article says it was a "medical event" while the SBS link mentions he died in a bunch ride.

I feel bad for him and his family, but I can't help but wonder, what particularly would cause a 27 year old rider to drop dead while riding with his team?

 

[JA.Tri]

Electrophysiological abnormalities/Heart spasm/supraventricular tachycardia?
Hypertrophy of ventricular myocardium?

Pointers? Personal or family history of certain abnormal heart rhythms, including long QT syndrome, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, extremely low heart rates or heart block.

Seems many such cases end up with no specific diagnosis of underlying cause (anecdotal as I have no source).

 

[Pastavore]

Fit, healthy young people can die, naturally. It happens.

 

[Cavalier]

Yea, my immediate though was that this was really the wrong place to be posting this. Speculation like that with no basis is pretty poor form.

 

[Hugh Januss]

And yet.......similar to many other cases in various endurance sports in recent years. Maybe doping related, maybe not, (it was the first thing I thought of when I read it) if so then it is only one more reason to keep up the anti-doping fight.

 

[The Falcon]

Yea, my immediate though was that this was really the wrong place to be posting this. Speculation like that with no basis is pretty poor form.

Very ordinary indeed......Particularly given the bloke hasn't raced for years. Also no idea what the OP intended with the highlights in his/her quote?

 

[Dundee]

WTF I always avoid the Clinic as I find it full of people with no personality and no life.

This thread however is a new low, even for the clinic.

 

[The Hitch]

WTF I always avoid the Clinic as I find it full of people with no personality and no life.

This thread however is a new low, even for the clinic.

You are yourself being disrespectful, when you saw the thread solely as an opportunity to play the exhausted troll card of - everyone in the clinic is fully responsible for everything that is written there and you are all therefore ** **** and ****.

1 person started the thread and 90% of members have not even ccommented.

Yeah everyone here had no personality and no.life indeed. How dare anyone post a forum where someone wrote something controversial.

 

[veganrob]

Fit, healthy young people can die, naturally. It happens.

Healthy 27 yos do not just die. Fit people can die, happens all the time. He obviously had a problem, may have not been diagnosed. I also am not saying he did anything illegal.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

This thread has been moved out of the Clinic for a reason. Cool it with the doping talk.

Susan

 

[ElChingon]

This thread has been moved out of the Clinic for a reason. Cool it with the doping talk.

Susan

Maybe you should enlighten the forum-ites of said reason to quell the issue? The whole subject matter reads as a Clinic thread and was posted as such, so maybe instead you start a non-clinic thread in the racing and leave the clinic thread where it was.

 

[Poursuivant]

Healthy 27 yos do not just die. Fit people can die, happens all the time. He obviously had a problem, may have not been diagnosed. I also am not saying he did anything illegal.

One of the daftest things I have read on here, and it has some competition.

 

[RedheadDane]

No matter what the reasons where it's just wrong that someone that young should die!

 

[hiero2]

Maybe you should enlighten the forum-ites of said reason to quell the issue? The whole subject matter reads as a Clinic thread and was posted as such, so maybe instead you start a non-clinic thread in the racing and leave the clinic thread where it was.

Agree. This topic belongs in the clinic. It is sad that the young man died - but the op said "why".

Sure, there are a lot of heart issues that could cause such an occurrence. They aren't 'common', and they don't happen 'all the time'. But in the last 20-30 years I think we've seen those issues occurring more and more. There is very frequently a dopage question involved when such cases occur.

It could have been a natural occurrence, overheating or heart. But it could just as well have been related to dope. We don't know, and if they never do an autopsy, we will never know.

 

[veganrob]

One of the daftest things I have read on here, and it has some competition.

You obviously do not know the difference between healthy and fit. Look it up.

I have a friend, done multiple IM's, climbed Everest and more, at 45yo he had a stroke. He was pretty darn fit, but had heart disease, never diagnosed, never affected him till the stroke.

Again, look up the difference. Oh and look up daft, you will see a picture of yourself.

 

[TourLeTour]

One of the daftest things I have read on here, and it has some competition.

Sorry, but healthy people do not just drop dead. People who are about to just drop dead are clearly unhealthy, regardless of how fit they are. As several people have said, it could easily have been an undiagnosed illness, but there must have been some part of him that wasn't healthy.

Regardless, he was one of the nicest guys I had the pleasure of being dropped by, and he will be missed.