Coquard scolded by Rickaert after Philipsen crash: "Risking your life for 10 points is crazy"

Rickaert told his version of events near the Alpecin-Deceuninck team bus. “What happened? I have no idea. I was riding to the left of Jasper, and it looked to me like he was colliding with Jasper. Maybe because he slipped out of his pedal or something?” said the Belgian.

Rickaert rode up to Coquard from behind to talk to him. “At first glance, I was angry with him; I wanted to get an explanation. However, I'll need to review the footage first. He said he couldn't do anything about it.”

The Belgian kept calm but then rebuked him after all. “I yelled loudly at him and was angry. I wanted an explanation because it wasn't the first time he had done something like this in a sprint. If he sprints at the finish, fair enough, then it's for first place. But risking your life for ten points is sometimes too crazy. Especially when he can only finish sixth or so in the GC.”

Philipsen's crash wasn't the only one: several other riders also went down in the final. “I didn't understand why they suddenly started acting so nervous 100 kilometers from the finish. There was some crosswind, but not enough to cause such a commotion. Maybe all the sports directors are on a different channel than us? Sometimes I don't understand it, or maybe I'm getting old,” Rickaert explains.

“It is what it is. This is the Tour, but it's just a shame to lose Jasper like that. Especially in a bunch sprint,” said Rickaert. “We're going to have to reorganize ourselves and go for Kaden Groves in the bunch sprints.”