"But hey... If Quinn Simmons says so.." - Tim Wellens hits back at American's bike drafting controversy

The Tour de France is the race where the stakes are at their very highest throughout the year and everyone wants to win or take strong results. Hence, on stage 15, one where the breakaway succeeded, there were a lot of disappointed faces in Carcassonne - top riders who made the effort but didn't come out with a win. However, Quinn Simmons particularly hinted at Tim Wellens benefiting massively from motorbikes to take his stage win, and the Belgian didn't stay silent on the matter.

Wellens attacked outside the final 40 kilometers on the day on the final uphill sections that the riders would find, creating a gap to the chasing group which then grew all the way to the line and eventually resulted in another stage win for UAE Team Emirates - XRG. There were many congratulations at the finish line but not everyone was happy with how Wellens got his win. Lidl-Trek's Quinn Simmons directly accused the Belgian of benefiting from the motorbikes' draft.

"The strongest guy and the best moment with the moto. Did you not watch the coverage?" the American champion said in words to ITV. "I think... It is what it is, we've seen this a few times at the Tour, you know how that's going to be. Some days you take advantage, others someone else does".

Whilst there certainly exists benefit to some riders on occasions over the presence of vehicles on the road, the interview didn't come off in the most positive way towards some and eventually those statements got to the stage winner who was asked about his opinion.

"He could have attacked first himself. I don't think I got much help from the bikes, but hey... If Quinn Simmons says so..." Wellens said in the Vive le Vélo show. Certainly UAE Team Emirates - XRG are in the spotlight, carrying the yellow jersey into the final week but simultaneously also having Tadej Pogacar's comments on Visma's tactics noticed and talked about quite a lot.