Cyclist Mark Whitehead Dies at 50

Former Olympian Mark Whitehead, a member of the U.S. track cycling team, died while attending the USA Cycling junior track national championships in Texas, USA Cycling announced Wednesday. He was 50.

Whitehead participated in blood doping during the 1984 Summer Olympics, creating a scandal that led to the practice being banned from the sport. The champion rider was also a familiar face at the Encino Velodrome.

"He brought a whole new level of competition to racing and a fan base that followed him for the pure excitement he brought to track racing here in the Valley," The Pedal Shop in North Hollywood wrote to Patch.

"His spitfire style was only exceeded by the likes of great riders like Lance Armstrong who also had that take no prisoners attitude and who raced with reckless abandonment. We all that know him wish his family our deepest fondness for this man."

You can read Whitehead's obituary here on the Los Angeles Times.