According to a press release on the team’s website Verdick suffered the first heart attack at around 1am on Tuesday morning and had to be rushed to hospital following several attempts to resuscitate him.
“Last night, the 21-year-old Gijs Verdick, cyclist in Cycling Team Jo Piels, had a heart attack at around 01:00. Gijs repeatedly was resuscitated and taken to hospital,” the press release stated. “In the hospital, he had a second heart attack and he also incurred brain damage from lack of oxygen.
“His family arrived this afternoon in Poland. The situation is very worrying and critical.”
On Tuesday, a Team Wiggins spokesperson told Cyclingnews that their mechanic Mick Bell, had been required to perform CPR on an unnamed rider.
Verdick is in his first season with the Cycling Team Jo Piels. Verdick’s heart attack is the second such incident to happen recently. In March, Belgian rider Daan Myngheer suffered one during stage 1 of the Criterium International. He was initially put into an induced coma but passed away two days later.
The Cycling Team Jo Piels decided to pull out of the Carpathian Couriers Race following the incident.
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