“We hit the brakes straight away and rushed over" - Shimano mechanics recount their side of Tadej Pogacar's dramatic Tour de France crash

The Shimano neutral service vehicles are unheralded heroes at the Tour de France year after year. On stage 11 of the 2025 edition, their presence was thrust into the spotlight though as mechanics Raf Pauwels and Patrick Dils rushed out of the car to assist Tadej Pogacar after his dramatic late crash.

“We were just checking whether we could move up after the climb,” explains Patrick in conversation with Sporza. “The gap was about ten seconds, so it was just about possible. There we were, right up with the best riders in the world – and almost immediately, Pogacar crashes.”

And seeing the Rainbow Jersey on the deck, both of the Flemish mechanics immediately raced into action. “Even before we heard anything over Radio Tour, we had already seen it,” adds mechanic Raf. “We hit the brakes straight away and rushed over to see what was wrong.” 

“We saw the chain was off. Tadej was straight on his feet – that was a good sign. He tried to get the chain back on himself at first, but it wasn’t working. So I literally took the chain from his hands and got it sorted,” he continues. “I gave him a push to get him going again, and he said, ‘Thank you.’ That’s what you do it for. It was a great feeling."

Both mechanics are keen to stress though, there reaction would have been exactly the same whether it was Pogacar of the last man on the road. "We’re here to help everyone. Not just the number one in the general classification, but also the rider in 200th place,” they explain. "It’s our job. We just have to act as quickly as possible. Sometimes things go wrong – and when they do, everyone sees it. I’ve made a bad call before, and you end up having a few sleepless nights after that.”