I don't really know why, but somehow I feel it's more difficult to cope with a fatal race incident. It's sad of course to see such a young person die, but the way it looks like (although the autopsy is still to come) this probably could have happened any day, also in training, so for me personally I somehow see it pretty unrelated to the race itself.
Now that it did happen in the biggest classic there is though, let's hope it will lead to some changes in regards of steady medical observation, heart disease screenings and so on at least.
edit: Cyclingtips had a piece about heart problems in pro cycling a while ago
https://cyclingtips.com/2017/01/are-elite-cyclists-at-greater-risk-of-heart-problems/
edit 2: ok, an annual heart test is mandatory already for WT and PCT riders. I didn't know
http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/CleanSport/16/76/80/ProgrammeofobligatoryMM2013ROADE_English.pdf
I am quite sure that most of the teams have regular heart checkups more frequently than required these days. Of course, I don't know about all of the smaller teams, but with the topic having come up before, some WT teams have responded in interviews and whatnot that they do more as part of their routine. I believe I recall that a few riders have even had heart surgery in recent years, to correct problems that would have gone under the radar with an old-fashioned stethoscope routine. Goolaerts, though, was on one of the smaller teams, and who knows how extensive their testing was.
"Unrelated to the race itself . . ."
Yes, quite so. There has been no indication that this incident was caused by head or neck trauma that was a direct result of the accident. Oddly, perhaps, because it was apparently a more personal health incident, I find it easier to deal with, rather than harder. I can certainly empathize with you though.
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