Not a rider, but the system to blame for Philipsen's crash, says De Cauwer: "You're not really supposed to say that"

"An eventful stage, with a Belgian victory in the end," Schotte concludes afterward on Sporza. "Tim Merlier does it on instinct, but also thanks to very good legs. His jump was perhaps just a little too late, but despite everything, it was still enough," says De Cauwer, looking back on his compatriot's second Tour victory.

Belgium cheers, but Belgium also cries after Philipsen's withdrawal. “I'm speechless,” Schotte mourns. De Cauwer sees that a lot will change for what is yet to come. “For the sprints, for the next few days. A team that was built entirely around a bunch sprinter. So now they have to reorganize themselves. Okay, they have Kaden Groves, and, of course, they still have Mathieu van der Poel.”

Without pointing fingers, the Belgian commentator knows what caused the crash. “Bryan Coquard mainly wants to score in the intermediate sprints to get into the top 3 of the points classification. That's how they earn UCI points. I don't know what rules we need to come up with to make racing safer for riders because now it seems that the battle for UCI points is leading to dangerous situations,” said De Cauwer.

In addition to Philipsen, Belgium saw more riders crash. Among others, Jordi Meeus and Remco Evenepoel crashed, leaving De Cauwer a little wary about the injuries of the Soudal Quick-Step Belgian. ‘After the crash in the Dauphiné, they also said that it was nothing for Evenepoel. They repeated that a day later, but a few days later, it sounded much worse than they had said. "Now, it does indeed seem to be not so bad."

“Arnaud De Lie was also on the ground,” De Cauwer recalls another Belgian who hit the asphalt. “You say: that's the Tour. But you shouldn't say that. It's not an excuse to do other things. We all have to find solutions to avoid this.”

Getting to zero crashes is impossible. De Cauwer knows that, too. “But you can intensify the tension with that points system. It's like saying: there's 10 million euros to be earned in that sprint. I can assure you that it's going to be tough,” says the Belgian.