Antoine Demoitie dead: Belgian cyclist dies after Gent-Wevelgem motorbike crash

The 25-year-old was hit by the motorbike after several riders came down in a crash

Antoine Demoitie has died, aged 25 (Getty Images)

Belgian rider Antoine Demoitie has died in hospital after being hit by a motorbike following a fall during the Gent-Wevelgem cycling classic on Sunday, his team confirmed on Monday.

Team Wanty-Gobert's Twitter account showed a picture of the 25-year-old rider and the dates 1990-2016. It added in a subsequent tweet that its website was down and that it would release an official statement later today.

"The rider died. An inquiry is under way to determine the circumstances," Frederic Evrard, spokesman for the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional gendarmerie in France, earlier told Agence France Presse.

Demoitie was taken to the University Hospital of Lille after the accident during a section of the race in northern France. Reports say that he was run over by a race motorbike after he had crashed.

The 243-kilometre (151 mile) race, which starts and ends in Belgium, was won by world road race champion Peter Sagan of Slovakia.

Reuters