Team Sky member Txema González dies at 43 after contracting bacterial infection
Following the tragic passing away of soigneur or massage therapist Txema Gonzalez, Team Sky has decided to pull out of the Vuelta a Espana. The Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) is a three week road bicycle stage racing event that attracts international cyclists. It is part of the International Cycling Union’s World Ranking calendar and one of the three “Grand Tours” of Europe.
The race began on August 28, 2010 with a team time trial. The race was scheduled to have one team time trial stage, eight mountain stages, six summit finishes and an individual time trial. The race has a total of 21 stages and two scheduled rest days. The major cities on the Tour route include Marbella, Andorra, Salamanca, Toledo and Seville.
This year saw 22 teams competing in this competition but now is left one team short due to Team Sky’s withdrawal. Team Sky’s 9 member squad excluding officials such as Txema was not performing too well at this year’s Tour of Spain.
August 30th saw two team Sky riders withdrawing from the race due to illness. Many riders and staff in the tour had been stricken by illness since the start of the race. Team Sky could not perform its best due to the given circumstances as more of its riders and staff took ill. The team was clearly struggling through the tour.
Txema Gonzalez was taken ill last weekend in Seville, Spain. He was admitted to the hospital the following Monday. By Thursday, his condition worsened and he fell into a coma. Team Sky’s head of medical, Dr. Steve Peters said that Txema had contracted a bacterial infection. This infection entered his bloodstream and developed into a medical condition called sepsis. Sepsis is caused by overwhelming infection of the bloodstream by toxin-producing bacteria and can be lethal. The toxins from the sepsis damaged Txema’s body organs giving rise to septic shock. Septic shock is a direct consequence of sepsis and leads to low blood pressure. Txema’s body was damaged beyond repair and the 43 year old succumbed to death. His family was with him during this tragic time.
Txema was had been in the cycling circuit for many years and had worked with many teams including Euskaltel. He was respected in the cycling world and was a “joy to work with”. In his tribute, David Miller a pro cyclist says that Txema was dedicated to his job and completely non-judgmental of those he met. Team Sky Principal Dave Brailsford said: “We’ve lost a good friend, a much respected and valued colleague. We have considered all the elements very carefully and this is the only decision we could take. It's the right one; to show respect to Txema and to look after our team."
Txema’s death is a devastating blow to Team Sky and they have consequently decided to bow out of the Tour of Spain. Various other members of team sky including riders and staff had also taken ill during the course of this tour. Their medical conditions are different from Txema’s but Team Sky is not taking any chances. All riders and staff of the team are being blood tested in order to rule out health complications.
The Vuelta (Tour of Spain) organizers and UCI have been cooperative and understanding in regard to Sky’s decision to quit the Tour at this stage. In reverence to Txema riders from the remaining 21 teams in the tour will donate all of the prize money from stage eight to Gonzalez’s family.
Currently Gilbert from OMEGA PHARMA-LOTTO (OLO) has the highest rank in overall individual standings for this race and Team CAISSE D'EPARGNE (GCE) is ranked number one in the overall team standings.
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