“I didn’t do anything wrong” – Vlad van Mechelen disputes severe Tour de France punishment as stage 12 crash brings fine, yellow card and relegation
CyclingFriday, 17 July 2026 at 12:50
Vlad van Mechelen has denied causing the multi-rider crash that disrupted the sprint finish to stage 12 of the Tour de France, despite being relegated, fined and handed a yellow card by the race jury.
The 22-year-old Bahrain Victorious rider was punished after Fernando Gaviria clipped his rear wheel and crashed in the closing metres. Dorian Godon and Jenno Berckmoes were also brought down, with Berckmoes forced to abandon the Tour with a broken collarbone.
Van Mechelen was relegated to last place in the stage, fined 500 Swiss francs, docked 18 points in the points classification and issued with a yellow card. The Belgian rejected the suggestion that he had made a dangerous movement during the sprint.
“I didn’t really contribute much to it, or at least I didn’t do anything wrong,” Van Mechelen told Sporza. “I didn’t make any kind of manoeuvre. I was simply sprinting towards the finish line. In a moment like that, these things can happen.”
“I only felt an impact on my rear wheel”
Van Mechelen had moved ahead of Gaviria when the contact occurred. He said the speed and congestion of the sprint left him with little awareness of what was happening immediately behind him.
“I could hardly see anything,” he explained. “I only felt an impact on my rear wheel. That caused me to lose a little speed.”
Van Mechelen did not initially realise how many riders had gone down. He only understood the sequence after reaching the team bus and watching the footage back. “I was a little shocked when I saw so many riders crashing behind me,” he said. “It was only when I watched it back on the bus that I saw Gaviria had hit my rear wheel.”
The jury nevertheless held Van Mechelen responsible for the incident and applied four separate sanctions. He remains in the Tour, but carries a yellow card and a reduced points total into the next stage.
Van Mechelen’s position is equally firm: he says he held his line, made no manoeuvre and was struck from behind. The stage result has been settled, but the responsibility for the crash remains sharply disputed.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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