The death of the 21-year-old, an under-23 rider with the Daikin team, emerged just hours after Italian cycling star Marco Pantani was also found dead.

A Belgian radio station reported that Sermon's mother found his body on Friday morning.

He had apparently gone to bed early on Thursday to prepare for an eight-hour training ride.

Pantani found dead

Police were investigating Sermon's death.

Sermon's team manager and former president of the Belgian cycling federation, Ernest De Vuyst, said the cyclist had recently undergone a complete cardiovascular check up.

But he added that the cause of death appeared to be heart failure.

"Doping appears to me to be excluded," De Vuyst was quoted as saying.