Cofidis team defended their sprinter Bryan Coquard after he received a yellow card for causing a crash that left Jasper Philipsen with a broken collarbone. Coquard apologized but stated that he did not intentionally cause the crash. Cofidis general manager Cédric Vasseur believed the penalty was unjustified, citing that Coquard made no mistake during the incident. Pascal Chanteur, president of the National Union of Professional Cyclists, also criticized the sanction, emphasizing that Coquard acted to save himself in an unfortunate racing situation.
"Obviously, it wasn't my intention to cause a crash; I didn't want to take any risks. I was clearly thrown off balance; I almost lost my shoe. Even if it wasn't intentional, I want to apologize to Philipsen and Alpecin-Deceuninck. Even if I'm not a bad guy, it's not pleasant."
"Bryan made no mistake, it's an unfortunate racing incident. But just because there is a racing incident, it doesn't mean we have to find a culprit and hand out a yellow card."
"When we look at it frame by frame, he did not seek to provoke anything; he reacted to save himself."
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