"We have not had any apologies" - Patrick Lefevere fumes with ASO after Jan Hirt's crash with fan pre-Tour de France stage 1

Not for the first time, the outspoken Soudal - Quick-Step team boss Patrick Lefevere is not a happy man. The target of his fury on this occasion? Tour de France race organisers, ASO.

It all started before stage 1 of the 2024 Tour de France had even gotten underway on Saturday in Florence, when Jan Hirt, a key climbing domestique for Remco Evenepoel was brought to the ground by a fan before even making it to the start line of the race. "There 100 rules for the team but one with backpack made crashing Jan Hirt between the signings and the bus," Lefevere furiously wrote of the incident via his official social media accounts, sharing a very gruesome picture of his rider, sporting the wounds of the unneeded and unfortunate incident. "3 teeth broken."

Now, after a night to sleep on the matter, Lefevere has spoken out further with some heavy criticism being thrown in ASO's direction. “What happened is unacceptable. We have so many rules and we have to pay for everything. And then the collision happens with that stupid spectator and his backpack,” explains Lefevere to Het Nieuwsblad and Sporza.

What's worse for Lefevere and Soudal - Quick-Step is that no one has yet apologised for such a situation being allowed to occur. "No. But they must have read my message on X, right? I saw long faces in the hotel, but I don't care about that. We have not had any apologies," rages Lefevere. “Yesterday he couldn't eat during the ride, not even gels. He survived the entire ride on water bottles. I arranged for him to have surgery yesterday in a private clinic. Fortunately, in the evening he was back at the hotel with three repaired teeth.”

“The dentist did a great job. We went straight from the finish line and we spent two hours there last night but now today is much better,” Hirt himself told Cycling News at the start line of stage 2. “I think we can see already today that it [the safety] is much better but it's a shame that something has to happen first before they change it. It should be better of course if they can make it from the first day. Of course I was unhappy, it was really annoying but life continues.”