Cofidis "condemn any form of intimidation or abuse directed at our riders" as Bryan Coquard is targeted online after Jasper Philipsen's Tour de France crash

Bryan Coquard is one of the more experienced sprinters in the Tour de France peloton in 2025. The Frenchman has rarely seen the kind of headlines he has received over the 24 hours or so however, after being involved in an unfortunate crash at the intermediate sprint on stage 3 that saw Green Jersey Jasper Philipsen abandon the race.

It's not merely in an analytical form that Coquard and the crash itself has been dissected either sadly, with the 33-year-old the subject of some online abuse, with some blaming him for Philipsen's abandon. So bad has this abuse been, that the Cofidis team has now been forced to make a statement to defend their sprinter against such online criticism.

“After stage three, Coquard once again emphasized how deeply he was affected by Jasper Philipsen’s crash and subsequent abandonment,” the statement posting to Cofidis' social media pages read. “This was an unfortunate incident during the race, but he was in no way responsible for the change in course. As cycling fans and sports enthusiasts, we condemn any form of intimidation or abuse directed at our riders on social media. The team reserves the right to file a complaint against anyone who damages their integrity and wishes to express its full support for all its riders. We also wish all the riders affected by Monday’s crashes a speedy recovery.”

In conversation with Sporza, team boss Cedric Vasseur also came out in defence of Coquard, questioning the need to give his sprinter a yellow card. “This is certainly not justified. Bryan didn’t make any mistakes," Vasseur fumed. "It was unfortunately a racing incident. He bumped into the green jersey, but just because something happens doesn’t mean someone is at fault.”

“Look at the sprint, Bryan holds his line. He was also a victim of a racing incident himself. There was an initial surge from Lidl-Trek that pushed Bryan towards the Intermarché - Wanty rider. That destabilized him. Somehow, he managed to save himself, don’t ask me how. But he did touch Jasper, who unfortunately crashed,” added the team boss. “If you’re giving a yellow card for this, it devalues what that card means. We’ll discuss it further with the race directors, and maybe it will be overturned. Because it involved the green jersey, the jury apparently felt they had to react. But if that’s the standard, they’ll be handing out 25 cards a day, and in a few days, we’ll all be sent home.”