Coquard reacts emotionally after Philipsen had to abandon the race: "Even though I’m not a bad guy…"

Philipsen prevailed immediately in the Tour de France. The 27-year-old rider won the opening stage after a spectacular echelon battle and a very powerful sprint in the streets of Lille. In addition to the stage victory, Philipsen naturally became the leader of the GC, allowing the fast man to ride in the yellow jersey the next day. Philipsen then lost his leader's jersey to teammate Mathieu van der Poel but was still firmly in the lead in the points classification.

And so Philipsen started the third stage in the green jersey. A leisurely stage followed, with an expected sprint in Dunkirk as the finale. Things would get more nervous along the way, and that's when disaster struck for the ten-time stage winner in the Tour. In the run-up to the intermediate sprint, Philipsen came into contact with Bryan Coquard (Cofidis). The Frenchman lost his balance, causing him to knock Philipsen off his bike. The green jersey wearer remained on the asphalt for a long time, was taken to the side of the road, and later, the news followed that everyone had seen coming: the end of his Tour de France.

Immediately after the crash, the NOS switched to the finish, where Marcel Kittel and Fabio Jakobsen analyzed Philipsen's crash. “It's awful to see,” said Jakobsen. The Picnic PostNL rider is still recovering from surgery on his pelvic arteries and is in the Tour de France for one day. “It was a bit of pushing and shoving. Coquard became a kind of punching bag. He got a kind of whack and a push, and then yes...”

Former sprinter Kittel goes into more detail about the crash. “Coquard also has a certain responsibility. I think he ends up with Rex's handlebars over his handlebars, his foot also comes off the pedal, and then you lose your balance. And then Philipsen also crashes completely wrong.” Jakobsen sees the same thing. “He doesn't roll over on his right side either. I fear for his collarbone. I think half his back is open.”

So, while the first few days of the Tour were nothing but a party for Alpecin-Deceuninck, the mood in the team is now less euphoric. “It's very disappointing for the whole team,” said Kittel, who already has a plan B. “They had big plans for this Tour today. Now, they really have to reorganize the team. But Groves is also fast.”

The damage to Bryan Coquard is nothing compared to Philipsen's verdict. The Frenchman felt Philipsen hit him from behind and crash. However, the Cofidis sprinter was able to continue without crashing. The Cofidis sprinter ‘only’ suffered a burn on his calf from the incident.

After the race, Le Coq appeared emotional in front of the Eurosport camera. “You can imagine that causing the green jersey to withdraw from the race is absolutely no fun for me. I've reviewed the footage, but I'm not entirely sure what happened at the time. I have the impression that Jonathan Milan launched his sprint and that my wheel hit his derailleur. Maybe it was Rex who threw me off balance, I don't know,” Coquard speculates.

“It wasn't my intention, of course,” the Frenchman continued. "I didn't want to take any risks; I just wanted to follow Milan. I don't even feel like I hit anything. Anyhow, I lost my balance and almost lost my shoe. Even though it was absolutely not intentional, I apologized to Philipsen and Alpecin-Deceuninck. Even though I'm not a bad guy, this is far from pleasant,“ Coquard fights to hold back his tears.

”I expected you guys to be here, and I didn't really want to do the final sprint,“ he says with a trembling voice. ”I tried, but then there was another crash. I'm hurting a bit everywhere, but we'll see."