Quick Step - Alphavinyl, which saved the spring classics season with a win by Remco Evenpole in Liège - Bastogne - Liège, but with 60km to go, a massive crash inside the peloton left two riders hospitalized.

World Champion Julien Alaphilippe crashed down an embankment and into a tree, suffering two ribs, a broken scapula, and a punctured lung. According to Quick Step Alpha Vinyl, Alaphilippe is still under observation at a hospital in Herental.

Ilan Van Wilder, who broke his jaw in the crash, underwent surgery and was allowed to return home to recover. However, the injury will prevent him from starting the Giro d'Italia as scheduled.

According to "L'Equipe" (open in new tab), Alaphilippe's cousin Frank visited him and said he was fine.

"He even joked right away. He's a joker as I know him," Frank Alaphilippe said.

"Obviously he is seriously hurt. The blow was very big. If it had been another 50 centimeters, he could have avoided that tree and jumped on his bike," he said.

Alaphilippe fell ill before his debut Tour de la Provence, crashing hard in a sudden crosswind at Strade Bianche and missing the Milan-San Remo race due to bronchitis.

"Since the beginning of this year he suffered from colds and bronchitis, had the flu, and crashed three times. And that was in less than two months.

Some might call it the curse of the rainbow jersey, but Frank Alaphilippe says every athlete has a bad year.

"Julien is right in the middle of it. He has always had difficult times, but never before has he had such a dark period. But now, watching him, I feel like this situation is making him stronger. He will have more mental toughness and even stronger will than before. I can't give him a timetable for recovery yet, but I'm very optimistic about the rest of the season."

Romain Bardet, who first stopped and cared for Alaphilippe, who was out of sight of the paramedics and team staff, and informed them of the situation, posted comments on social media urging players to prevent such crashes.

"Apart from the immediate consequences, it made me think about our shared responsibility to prevent such accidents, which can have tragic consequences, and the respect we should show each other as riders. I was watching everything. I was right behind Tom Pidcock and Jeremy Cabot when they collided," Bardet wrote.

Cabot took exception to this post and felt that Bardet was blaming him for the cause of the crash.

Cabot told L'Equipe (open in new tab), "I take my hat off to Romain for a very nice gesture. He was the leader of the team and stopped by the side of the road to save Julien. 'And I'm not the kind of guy who confuses the peloton, I like to bump into things, I don't take risks, and I'm the father of a two-year-old girl.'

He then described the circumstances leading up to the crash: "It was a critical moment in the race. I was trying to get up Haute-Louvet, but I got passed a little bit and fell back, so I wanted to get back to where I was for the Col du Rosier. I was steering the two Bora racers who were overtaking the leader, Alexandre Vlasov. The move was done in a completely normal way.

"At that moment I was in the lead and one of the racers came to my right and tried to overtake me. In the helicopter photo you can't see it, hidden by the trees, but there was no space. At the same time, there were some curves at the front of the pack and I think Bahrain was pushing Beulah a little bit. So I have to shift a little to the right to follow that move, but the rider I talked about earlier, who I think took too many risks, is coming at me at full speed.

"My front wheel touched the rear wheel of the third Bora rider. I couldn't do anything and couldn't brake. I ran out of space. I think the speedometer was reading 73 km/h at the time."

Cabot said he was offended that Bardet's name was made public, and the Team DSM rider immediately posted an apology. Tom Pidcock, in turn, blamed Cabot, claiming that Cabot had caused the crash. Pidcock said he could have broken his finger, but Cabot said he was much worse off. [My left collarbone is broken in two places, I have rashes all over my body, I look like a mummy. I had a big impact on my knee, ankle, and hip. I had a big impact on my knee, ankle, and hip. Face is fine. I wore a helmet, so it rubbed a little, but I didn't hit my head hard.

"Unfortunately I landed on the surface, not on the grass. Fabien Grellier was scared because he had to remove the bike that was on top of me.

"The impact was so severe that I was paralyzed and almost naturally placed myself in a safe position on the right side. I was afraid of passing out. I spent 30 minutes motionless on the asphalt. Then I had to wait on a stretcher again, but it wasn't the worst

"I am angry with Tom Pidcock and Romain Bardet. I know there are riders more seriously injured than me, but I didn't do anything.

"To Pidcock, because he said I made a reckless move. And to Romain, he threw me out in public by mentioning my name, and suddenly I was insulted by everyone.