"He thought we would stop" - Yves Lampaert reacted with shock to Tour of Bruges protestor who caused a crash

The 2026 Tour of Bruges was a race marked by the echelons, thrilling final sprint in which Dylan Groenewegen took the win, but also a protestor who blocked the peloton. Yves Lampaert saw the incident first-hand from the head of the peloton and was dumbfounded by what was happening.

Lampaert is a top classics rider for over a decade in the peloton and he has seen a lot happen in the world's most prestigious classics. As a former winner of the Tour of Bruges himself, he knows how to tackle that race, and that is often from the front, as the winds often create total chaos.

From that position, he happened to come across a different scenario this year. A climate protestor, famous in the region, who planned out a disruption to the race. It was achieved, but not without getting arrested by the local police. Additionally, it led to a crash in the peloton.

Lampaert described the incident from his point of view, shocked by the protestor's efforts. “It was actually a bizarre image. He was sitting there like he was glued to the road," he described in words to De Reconstructie.

The proximity of the protestor to the peloton caused tension, moving and braking. This caused a mass fall behind, which did affect the race, taking out amongst others Juan Sebastián Molano who was forced to abandon the race.

Lampaert described the actions of the then-identified individual Wouter Mouton, who has in the past organized separate protests in cycling races. "As we got closer, he realized we were not going to stop. He started waving with one hand, and then he ran into the bushes.”

But it was too late. Whilst Lampaert evaded the fall, others behind did not. The veteran was shocked and only had time to react and protect himself in the situation. “I could just get around it. But you don’t process it. You just react. You could see the fear, he thought we would stop.”