"Remco shouted: Stop, stop, stop!" - Remco Evenepoel's teammate appreciates immediate fair play gesture

Tour de France stage 11 was marked by the crash of overwhelming favourite Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) after a collision with Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility). At that point, chaos unfolded in peloton. But the situation quickly calmed down thanks to intervention of Remco Evenepoel.

"I was getting so much noise in my ear, but I didn't hear a thing," Evenepoel's Soudal - Quick-Step teammate Ilan Van Wilder told Sporza after the finish. "I hadn't seen anything of the crash myself. I honestly didn't know Tadej had fallen, but Remco shouted, 'Stop, stop, stop!'"

"Everyone stopped, but I had no idea why. Only at the finish line did I see he was injured. I was absolutely blown away. I didn't really understand why we'd stopped the race," said Van Wilder, until he realized it was a matter of fair play. "I think that's important. I hope everyone else does the same if it's the other way around one day."

According to Tom Steels, sports director at Soudal - Quick-Step, it was the only correct decision to stop in such a situation. "We didn't. There was a bit of a miscommunication, but you don't race at a time like that. That's not sporting. You don't do that. Riders should never do that. The battle must always be fought in a sporting manner."