Jérémy Cabot hits back at accusations of having caused Liège-Bastogne-Liège horrific crash

TotalEnergies' Jérémy Cabot was one of the three riders from TotalEnergies who crashed during yesterday's pile-up at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Romain Bardet had detailed the crash, in which Tom Pidcock and Cabot were involved near the head of the peloton, with the Briton accusing Cabot of causing the crash that saw many abandon, and Julian Alaphilippe with serious injuries.

Cabot has shared his thoughts on social media this morning with a post that started with a clear affirmation: "In addition to the physical pain, I read comments today, at best unpleasant, at worst totally false." This comes after Tom Pidcock's accusation, in which he told VeloNews that "this DirectEnergies guy risked his life and risked everyone else’s life when he was coming from behind."

He detailed his side of the story: "A rider who forced the passage arriving behind me while I was on the very right of the road in the wheel of the riders of the Bora, no room for two at this place, my wheel which touches that of the rider in front, no time to brake... And chaos... in a quarter of a second." It is unclear who this rider is. He added: "I never took reckless risks. My teammates, my TotalEnergies team and my relatives know the time I spend at the back of the peloton to avoid danger... I've never been a hothead. I never play the last one who brakes. NEVER."

And I'm even more sensible since I became a dad two years ago... I've always respected my peloton colleagues, my family, my health. STILL. Please stop the over-interpretations and their dissemination. I'm sorry for those who fell behind me. I am thinking in particular of Élie [Gesbert] and Julian [Bardet]. Respect to Romain [Bardet] for his gesture towards Julian. I send the strength (that I have left) to those who, like me, are beginning their convalescence," he concluded.

Bardet has in the meantime replied to that statement, in which he apologized and acknowledged Cabot was not a culprit but instead in the wrong place at the wrong time, having said that "I'm really sorry that my post was confusing".