"It was a really stupid crash" - Tom Dumoulin analyzes the fall of Tadej Pogacar

The main event that overshadowed the otherwise exciting eleventh stage of Tour de France was the crash of Tadej Pogacar in which Tobias Halland Johannesen played a big role.

"A very strange crash," said former Giro winner Tom Dumoulin in his analysis for NOS after the stage.

It's not quite common to see Pogacar on the ground, Dumoulin points out: "He hardly ever crashes, but now he does."

It was a moment of lowered attention when the Slovenian was talking to his team on radio. "He's actually watching the riders attack. He doesn't see the guy on the left, Tobias Halland Johannessen, coming at all, and then he suddenly swerves. Johannessen actually takes off his front wheel. It was a really stupid and annoying crash."  

Who's to be blamed for the crash? "Both, but I think it's mainly Johannessen's mistake. He crossed the line at a very strange moment. We see Johannessen immediately raise his hand. You can just see him apologize. Pogacar himself isn't paying attention either. These kinds of things happen in races."

Dumoulin then highlighted what came afterwards, when peloton stopped to wait for the Slovenian to return to the front without any pressure.

"I think it's commendable that the whole group thinks: we don't want to gain time like this. Vingegaard and Visma think: we're not going to win the Tour this way. The battle is being played very fairly. Evenepoel also had a say in that; he knows Pogacar well. He doesn't want to take advantage of that either. I love fair sport."