Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team car causes Julian Alaphilippe to crash at Brabantse Pijl

An incident involving a Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team car and the peloton caused havoc at Brabantse Pijl today, with multiple riders, including their own rider Julian Alaphilippe, falling to the deck. 

With 21km to go and heading into the final lap, eight riders had created a breakaway group at the front of the race. Among them was Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Ineos Greandiers riders Tom Pidcock, Ben Turner and Magnus Sheffield, Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) and Warren Barguil (Arkéa Samsic), building a gap of a minute between themselves and the peloton. 

In order to catch up to their lead rider, a Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team car attempted to navigate the traffic of the peloton while crossing the finish line for the final lap of the race at Overijse.

However, Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) rider failed to notice the vehicle attempting to edge past, and with little room for manoeuvring, he swerved back into the path of rest of the riders to avoid the car. This sudden change of movement saw him knock into Julian Alaphilippe, causing him and multiple other riders to crash in a bizarre moment. 

The world champion lay on the ground for an extended period of time, tending to an injured elbow. However, he eventually managed to get up and back on a new bike, but had little time to make any further inroads on the race. 

Magnus Sheffield ended up winning the race, accelerating from the leaders with just under 4km to go. The 19-year-old managed to power away from the strong group of riders chasing him, eventually finishing a remarkable 37 seconds ahead of second-placed Benoît Cosnefroy, with Tim Wellens in third.