Riders and friends pay tribute to Antoine Demoitie
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.
Sep Vanmarcke, who finished second at the race behind Peter Sagan, was among the riders who paid tribute to the 25-year-old Belgian.
“Suddenly a 2nd place no longer important after this terrible news,” he wrote on Twitter. “Rest in peace Antoine Demoitié. Good luck to all.”
Tom Devriendt, Kenny Dehaes, Gaetan Bille and Mark McNally were among the Wanty-Groupe Gobert riders to post messages on Monday and were joined by riders from a range of teams and nationalities.
