The court of public opinion is in session. The defendant? One Bryan Coquard, French rider for Cofidis, accused of causing Jasper Philipsen’s abandon during stage three of the Tour de France. The prosecution? Random people on the internet, who think that the Frenchman should be kicked out of the race, possibly tarred and feathered, for his actions.
The facts are as follows: as the Tour approached the stage three’s intermediate sprint at Isbergue, those hunting for the green jersey jumped away from the peloton to fight for points. As the sprint opened up, Coquard of Cofidis was bumped by Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty), and as a result was knocked off balance. Coquard, unclipped, hit Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Philipsen, who could not stay upright, and hit the ground hard. It later emerged that he had fractured his collarbone, and broken at least one rib.
Adam Becket
News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com - should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.
Cue investigation, a dissection of the incident in slow motion, outrage on the internet. There are people calling for Coquard to be disqualified, people saying that the 33-year-old shouldn’t have been present in the sprint for green jersey points in the first place. Because he rides for Cofidis and has little hope of a result, that means he shouldn’t even try, apparently.
The debate rages for hours, while the race is ongoing, magnified because the man who crashed was Philipsen, in the green jersey, a favourite for that day’s stage win and more.
Coquard is later given a yellow card and a 500CHF fine by the race jury for an irregular sprint, as was Lidl-Trek’s Edward Theuns. Two yellow cards and you’re out.
"I was clearly knocked off balance," Coquard later told journalists. "My foot came off the pedal, and I almost lost my shoe. I apologise – even if it wasn’t deliberate – I apologise to Philipsen and Alpecin[-Deceuninck]. I'm not a bad guy.”
In the court of public opinion, no one wins. Strangers on the internet might reserve vitriol for Coquard or anyone else, but it is clear to most that know cycling that this was a racing incident, an unfortunate accident.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
In place of any real discussion over safety of riders and how to make racing safer, we see Coquard bearing the brunt of the opprobrium. This is debate online, reduced to finger pointing and anger; this is not limited to cycling, but we are seeing it increasingly in the sport, and the pressure of the Tour only heightens this.
Aside from some very obvious incidents, crashes at races are not deliberate, and should not be considered as one rider’s fault over another. To reduce cycling to this is to miss out on all the factors which also make our sport great: the weather, the speed, the constantly changing setting. It is easy to sit back and say to the riders “ride safer”, but without giving them the tools to do so, what is to be done? Every metre of road counts, every point or position is an opportunity.
The yellow card system, brought in to dissuade dangerous riding, plays into the idea that cyclists are always to blame. Of course, there are times when riders should be penalised for their actions, but sprints are often messy things, hard to judge, let alone legislate on. It is not a sprint on a track, with a consistent layout and lines to judge deviation from. It is a different thing on a road, hastily converted into a race situation.
It is incumbent on race organisers and cycling’s governing body, the UCI, to make courses as safe as possible, as much as it is for riders to ride safer. Telling the best cyclists in the world to simply crash less, when so much is at stake in every moment, is not the way to ensure fewer incidents.
Crashes are part of cycling, this is clear from the whole history of the sport. What can be changed is the severity of what happens when riders do hit each other, the ground, or anything else. Coquard is not responsible for that, even if he did seem like the lightning rod for blame on Monday afternoon.
A safer sport is possible. Blaming individuals is not the way to that point.
This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.
Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.
Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
