Myngheer in coma and fighting for his life after Criterium International heart attack
Young Belgian still in critical condition on Monday morning
In the wake of Antoine Demoitié’s tragic death following a collision at Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem, another Belgian rider, Daan Myngheer, is fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack at the Critérium International.
The 22-year-old, who rides for the Roubaix Lille Métropole team, was placed in an induced coma after the incident on Saturday and finds himself in a critical condition.
The French team issued an announcement on Sunday saying that, contrary to earlier reports of a stable condition, Myngheer’s life was at stake. Contacted by Cyclingnews on Monday morning, the team said the situation was still the same.
Myngheer dropped off the back of the bunch on the opening stage of the Critérium International on Saturday and suffered a heart attack when put into an ambulance. Roubaix Lille Metropole team manager Daniel Verbrackel told Belgian news outlets that the rider’s heart stopped for several minutes and that it took almost an hour to stabilize the situation.
Myngheer was initially taken to a hospital in Porto Vecchio, where the race was based on the island of Corsica, before being transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Ajaccio, where he is now. He has been joined by his parents, who flew out on Sunday and were accompanied to the hospital by Jean-Charles Canonne, president of the Vélo Club de Roubaix.
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Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.