"We cry" - Wanty-Gobert talk about Antoine Demoitié's death

Riders and staff of the Belgian UCI Professional Continental outfit Wanty-Gobert have held a press conference in De Panne, Belgium this evening following a traumatic day in which they have been coming to terms with the death last night of Antoine Demoitié.

The 25-year-old died in hospital in the northern French city of Lille hours after he had been run over by a commissaire’s motorbike at Gent-Wevelgem in only his second WorldTour race, the first being last Friday’s E3 Harelbeke.

While the Belgian rider’s team has described the fatal crash as “a tragic accident” and says the pilot of the moto, which was carrying a commissaire, was not at fault, organisers of the Three Days of De Panne, which starts tomorrow, have decided to cut the number of motos in the race to a minimum following yesterday’s events.

Wanty-Gobert’s sports director for yesterday’s race, Hilaire Van Der Schueren, has been called as a witness by gendarmerie in Hazebrouck investigating the incident, which happened after the race briefly crossed into France.

This evening, he told of how he had been in contact with Demoitié shortly before the crash.

“Antoine called me on the radio for bottles – his last words,” he explained. “I gave them and was called to a second group. I asked the commissaire to pass the group and then it happened.

“Our mechanic was the first to see Antoine and he immediately called me. At that moment I thought Antoine was dead but the ambulance was there straight away and he was airlifted to hospital.

“There was hope until the organisation of Gent-Wevelgem asks me for contact details of Antoine's next of kin,” he continued. “Then you know it's very serious.

“After the race I immediately left for the hospital in Lille. I met Antoine's father who told me the doctors didn't have much hope. After midnight we received the news that Antoine had died.

“We must process this together,” Van Der Schueren added. “This Wednesday we do a recon of Tour of Flanders together and then we eat together. We will talk about Antoine a lot."

Roy Jans, the only one of the team’s riders to complete yesterday’s race – he was the 55th of the 82 finishers – and, like Demoitié, aged 25, said: "We were very shaken on Sunday night.”

That evening, several messages on Twitter suggested that Demoitié had died, his team tweeting in response that he remained in intensive care. Jans recalled: “We read Antoine was dead but Hilaire assured us the situation was very serious but that Antoine hadn't died. This morning the definitive news came.

“As riders we decided together that we can't ride De Panne. It's too early,” he said. “We don't have 100 per cent focus at the moment. We need time to process this but first let it even sink in what happened."

Team manager Jean-François Bourlart said: “Antoine joined Wanty-Groupe Gobert this season and wanted to ride WorldTour races. Every time we spoke with each other, he only spoke about that.

“Last Friday, he rode his first WorldTour race: E3 Harelbeke. He was part of the day’s breakaway and climbed the Taaienberg with the best. He was very proud of himself and we couldn’t have been more proud of him.

“On Sunday, the incredible happened, the inconceivable. We can’t believe it. We are angry. After Rob Goris [who died of a heart attack aged 30 in 2012], Antoine is the second rider we have had to let go.

“We cry and we think of his wife Astrid and his family,” he added.

The team said that besides deciding the Three Days of De Panne, it has also withdrawn from the weekend’s French races, the Route Adélie de Vitré and Paris-Camembert – both of which Demoitié had been due to ride in.

Meanwhile, Sporza reports that organisers of the Three Days of De Panne are limiting the numbers of motos that will be allowed to follow this week’s race.

Race director Johan Van Hecke said: “We want to cut to the minimum the number of motorcycle riders on the race, but sometimes to guarantee the safety of the cyclists the presence of numerous motos is required.

“However, we have decided to have 15 mobile marshals, five or six photographers, two motorcycle riders for the cycling federation and three or four from the police for a total of 25.

“We’ve decided to cut the number of marshals on motorbikes, preferring to have a greater number of them by the roadside.

“We are trying to do as much as we can, but those who are inside the race need to fully respect UCI regulations,” he added.