Veranda's Willems-Crelan lead minute's silence for Michael Goolaerts

The Belgian UCI Professional Continental outfit Verandas Willems-Crelan returned to racing today, leading an emotional tribute to their rider Michael Goolaerts, who died on Sunday after suffering a cardiac arrest during Paris-Roubaix.

Eurosport UK posted a video to its Facebook page of the team’s riders, wearing black armbands bearing the hashtag #ALLFORGOOLIE, observing a minute’s silence in memory of the 23-year-old ahead of the start of the Brabantse Pijl race today.

The 201.9-kilometre race was won by Lotto-Soudal’s Tim Wellens following a late attack, the rider pointing skywards as he crossed the line in tribute to his compatriot.

Meanwhile, the Cambrai state prosecutor in France has confirmed that the initial results of a post mortem show that the 23-year-old's cardiac arrest preceded his crash.

Remi Schwartz, quoted on BBC Sport,  said: "He suffered an attack while racing. His heart stopped, and that's why he crashed."

Toxicology and pathological tests will now be carried out to try and establish what caused the cardiac arrest, although Schwartz said it may be some weeks before the results are known