Tourist
At the intermediate sprint of the third stage of the Tour de France, the Frenchman Brian Coquard brought down the man in the green jersey, Jasper Philipsen. After that he is inconsolable.
The Tour de France is an analogy to life itself: there are these moments of happiness in which everything seems to be possible. And then comes a stroke of fate that changes everything. Anyone who took a look at the people who work for the Alpecin Deceuninck team on the first two days of the tour only saw in radiant faces. At the finish line of the 3rd stage in Dunkirk, the same people around the team bus seemed frozen.
Philipsen must be operated on
After two stage wins and the yellow jersey in their own ranks, a fatal fall from the sprinter Jasper Philipsen had made any euphoria disappearing around 60 kilometers before the finish. Philipsen, the winner of the first stage and decorated for a day with the yellow jersey, was so violently crashed into the asphalt that he still had to end the race in place.
A broken collarbone, at least one broken rib, was the first diagnosis. The Belgian should be taken to the hospital in Herentals in his home country as soon as possible, where he has to undergo an operation. And while Philipsen was still examined, the finish in Dunkirchen began the search for the cause of this fatal fall.
Philipsen’s teammate insulted Coquard
The supposedly guilty person was quickly identified on the route. Philipsen’s team -mate Jonas Rickaert violated the Frenchman Brian Coquard, who was thrown in front of the bike at km / h at km / h at km / h in his work equipment, immediately after the accident.
“I was angry and wanted to know what he did. It wasn’t about accusing him,” said Rickaert later. “After such an incident, you are just very angry with the one you think about doing something with it.” Rickaert emphasized at the finish line in Dunkirk that he had to look at the TV pictures first to judge what had really happened. He couldn’t see everything on the track
The question is whether Rickaert comes to a clear knowledge in view of the pictures. It can be seen that the later winner of the intermediate sprint, Jonathan Milan, minimally exhales to the right, so that the coquard, which is driving behind him, also has to avoid something. At that moment, Laurenz Rex from the Intermarché-Wanty team overtakes him. This finally brings Coquard out of balance, he slips out of the pedals, can somehow intercept and collide with Philipsen.
Coquard does not know what happened
Coquard, who had received a yellow card from the racing commissioners, could not explain the course of the finish at the finish line. “I really don’t know what happened. Of course it was not my intention to cause a fall of the green jerseys. I would like to apologize to Philipsen and Alpecin,” said the visibly desperate Frenchman with tears in the eyes. “The bad guy to be the evil boy is not pleasant.”
The question of guilt may not be finally clarified. It was probably just a chain of unfortunate circumstances. But Philipsen’s team -mate Rickaert became more fundamental in Dunkirchen than he raised the question of whether Coquard should have started the intermediate sprint at all.
“My personal opinion is that if you are a seventh or eighth is not a full risk of the intermediate sprint for the points for the green jersey,” said the Belgian. “Sometimes it is annoying how some drivers are steamed out of the car.”
Alpecin ceiling Must find a focus again
Naturally, the field was also accelerated when it came to the stage victory in Dunkirk, for whom Philipsen had been favorite in view of the perfect sprint preparation in his victory two days earlier in the morning. The hustle and bustle after a day, which was largely calm except for Philipsen’s disastrous accident, was enormous and caused further falls, the victims of which also belonged to Coquard.
For the team Alpecin-Deceuninck, who continues to have the sponsor of the yellow jerseys in their ranks with Mathieu van der Poel, the winner of the second stage, was also lost in this final with Philipsen. On the way they had agreed to rely on Philipsen’s driver Kaden Groves. The Australian is even a passable sprinter, but from the sprint train that was driving on the first day was no longer visible.
“We tried it,” said Van der Poel, “but I felt that it was difficult for us to find the focus again.” Gathering and focusing again, he will have to succeed quickly. Because the tour continues like life.