Jungels: 'I'm really sorry' for taking Higuita out of the Tour de France

NICE FRANCE AUGUST 30 Bob Jungels of Luxembourg and Team Deceuninck QuickStep Julian Alaphilippe of France and Team Deceuninck QuickStep during the 107th Tour de France 2020 Stage 2 a 186km stage from Nice Haut Pays to Nice TDF2020 LeTour on August 30 2020 in Nice France Photo by Michael SteeleGetty Images
Bob Jungels of Luxembourg and Team Deceuninck QuickStep (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) has expressed his regret at Sergio Higuita (EF Pro Cycling) abandoning the Tour de France, but insisted the movement that led to the Colombian crashing on stage 15 was “part of the sport”.

The Luxembourg rider also fell on Sunday after being hit by a race ambulance later in the stage.

Jungels was attempting to form a breakaway on Sunday when he swung off the front of the leading group and took out Higuita’s front wheel. Higuita got back on his bike but crashed again shortly after while trying to get back to the peloton and was forced to abandon the race in tears with a suspected broken hand.

“We were fighting for the break, I was on the front, and at one point I wanted to pass the turn on to Sergio. Without knowing, he was on my right, and other people told me he was looking back at that point, and there you go. Crashes like that are always unfortunate but that’s part of the sport,” Jungels said at the finish on the Grand Colombier.

“I was swinging off to the right after an attack. I didn’t see him on my right side. Unfortunately, I must have hit his front wheel, and yeah, I’m really sorry to hear he’s out of the race because of that crash. I don’t know what to say.”

EF Pro Cycling managed Jonathan Vaughters had tweeted to say he wasn’t happy with Jungels, but the rider himself didn’t feel he was at fault, even if he deeply regretted the consequences of the collision.

“Swinging off to make another rider come to the front is something we usually do,” he said. “I didn’t see him on my right side and I’m just really sorry if there’s anything I’ve done wrong. It’s very unfortunate.

“I really feel bad for him. I spoke to his teammates afterwards, I didn’t even know if it was my fault or not, but I just said sorry to his teammates. I spoke to [Rigoberto] Uran and [Jens] Keukeleire. There’s not much I can do at the end of the day but I’m really sorry for what happened.”

Jungels hit the ground later in the stage in a collision with a race ambulance, but he was able to get back on his bike and finish the stage in 43rd place.

“An ambulance was coming from behind and ran me over,” he said. “It was bad luck. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

See more

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.