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Belgian cyclist Michael Goolaerts dies during Paris-Roubaix race

Team confirm cyclist suffered a heart attack during one-day race

Belgian rider Michael Goolaerts died after suffering a suspected heart attack during the Paris-Roubaix one-day race on Sunday. Photograph: Getty Images
Belgian rider Michael Goolaerts died after suffering a suspected heart attack during the Paris-Roubaix one-day race on Sunday. Photograph: Getty Images
Mon Apr 09 2018 - 01:44

The death of Belgian rider Michael Goolaerts following a crash at the Paris-Roubaix one-day race overshadowed the event on Sunday.

Television footage showed the 23-year-old receiving CPR treatment from medics by the side of the road after he crashed in the second cobbled sector of the 257-km race.

He was subsequently taken to Lille University hospital but failed to recover.

“It is with unimaginable sadness that we have to communicate the passing of our rider and friend Michael Goolaerts. He passed away Sunday evening at 22.40 in Lille hospital,” his team Veranda’s Willems-Crelan said in a statement.

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“He died of cardiac arrest, all medical assistance was to no avail.”

Goolaerts is the third Belgian rider to die in recent years during a race. Antoine Demoitie passed away following a crash with a motorbike during the Gent-Wevelgem road classic in 2016.

In 2011 Wouter Weylandt died after crashing during the Giro d’Italia.