Antoine Demoitié has died in hospital in Lille following his crash during Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday. The Belgian rider, who raced for Wanty-Groupe Gobert, was 25 years old.

Demoitié crashed with four other riders in Sainte-Marie-Cappel with 115 kilometres remaining, during the race’s brief loop across the border into France. As Demoitié lay on the ground, he was then reportedly struck by a following race motorbike although the circumstances are still unclear.

Demoitié was initially taken to hospital in Ypres, before being quickly transferred to the intensive care unit of the university hospital in Lille due to the gravity of his condition.

After the race finished on Sunday evening, the Wanty-Groupe Gobert team released an update on social media describing Demoitié’s condition as “extremely serious” and reporting that his wife and family had arrived at the hospital in Lille.

Shortly after midnight, AFP reported that Demoitié had died as a result of his injuries. "The rider died. An inquiry is under way to determine the circumstances," Frederic Evrard, a spokesman for the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional gendarmerie in France, told AFP.