"It wasn’t deliberate. I’m not a reckless rider" - Tearful Bryan Coquard makes heartfelt apology to Jasper Philipsen after Tour de France crash

Stage 3 of the 2025 Tour de France is a day that will live long in the memory of Bryan Coquard, and not for all the right reasons either. After putting himself in the mix at the intermediate sprint, the Frenchman came into contact with the Green Jersey of Jasper Philipsen, knocking the Belgian to ground and ultimately causing him to abandon the race.

Speaking to the media afterwards, a tearful Coquard, clearly struggling with what he had done, sent a public and heartfelt apology to the fallen Philipsen. “A rotten day, yes... Can you imagine? Being the one to take down the green jersey — it's not something you feel good about," he began his tale in quotes collected by Cyclism'Actu. "I watched a few clips... and honestly, in the moment, I really don’t know what happened."

"I have the feeling that... um... Jonathan Milan, during his sprint — maybe my front wheel clipped his derailleur, or maybe it was Laurenz Rex who knocked me off balance... I genuinely don’t know what caused it," Coquard analyses. "But obviously, I had absolutely no intention of causing a crash.”

“I wasn’t trying to take any risks — I was just on Milan’s wheel. When he launched his sprint, I didn’t even feel like I’d touched anything," he continues. "I was clearly knocked off balance, lost my pedal, my shoe... I nearly lost the whole shoe... and that was that.”

Then came the aforementioned apology, with Coquard visibly getting emotional. "I really want to apologise to Jasper Philipsen and the Alpecin-Deceuninck team—even though it wasn’t deliberate. I’m not... I’m not a reckless rider, but still, it’s never pleasant," he concludes. "I knew all of you would be here; I wasn’t even sure I wanted to contest the final sprint... but I pulled myself together. Then another crash. As for me, my health — we’ll see. I’m in pain all over, a few abrasions... we’ll just have to wait and see.”