Michael Goolaerts' was airlifted to hospital having received CPR at the roadside following a crash in the 257-kilometre Paris-Roubaix race, an event held over challenging terrain and dubbed the 'Hell of the North'. As they waited for news from the hospital in Lille, the Veranda's Willems-Crelan-Charles team urged people not to speculate about the 23-year-old Belgian's condition. "It is with unimaginable sadness that we have to communicate the passing of our rider and friend Michael Goolaerts," the rider's Veranda's Willems team said in a statement on Twitter. Michael Goolaerts, a 23-year-old cyclist with Veranda’s Willems-Crelan team, was airlifted to a hospital in Lille, France, near the Belgian border, where he died “of cardiac arrest,” the team said in a statement, adding that he was “in the presence of his family members and loved ones.” Goolaerts was a little less than halfway through the 257-kilometer race when he was found unconscious and not breathing at the side of the road on one of the race’s iconic cobbled sections. Goolaerts had been airlifted to the hospital after collapsing about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the finish in the second of the 29 cobblestone sectors of the race known as “The Hell of the North.”

No images of the incident were available but TV footage of the race showed Goolaerts lying unresponsive on the side of the road as the peloton passed him. Television footage appeared to show him receiving CPR treatment from medics at the side of the road. Sagan outsprinted Swiss champion Silvan Dillier, the last survivor from an earlier break, in the iconic outdoor velodrome in Roubaix after 5hrs 54mins 06sec in the saddle, to win the race. Our deepest heartfelt condolences to you and Michael’s family and friends.”

Two years ago, Belgian cyclist Daan Myngheer, died at the age of 22, two days after having a heart attack on the Criterium International in Corsica.
Belgian Vérandas Willems–Crelan cyclist Michael Goolaerts crashes during the race in France and subsequently dies in hospital.