Belgian rider Goolaerts dies following cardiac arrest

ROUBAIX/LILLE, France (Reuters) - Belgian rider Michael Goolaerts has died after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic, his team Veranda's Willems-Crelan said in a statement on Sunday.

"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 said in a statement.

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

Earlier in the day, TV footage showed the 23-year-old receiving CPR treatment from medics by the side of the road after crashing in the second cobbled sector of the 257-km race.

Goolaerts had finished ninth in the Dwars door West–Vlaanderen one-day race last month.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; editing by Pritha Sarkar)