Even though he didn’t crash himself, André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) saw his chances of a stage win and the conquest of the yellow jersey evaporate as the chaotic events of the Tour’s opening stage unfolded yesterday.

”The Tour is the Tour, there’s nothing new in that,” Greipel said later on his website. “What began as a quiet outing today [Saturday] developed into a frantic battle for positions towards the end of the stage. I have never experienced a finale as chaotic as the one we witnessed today. The now world famous Orica-GreenEDGE team bus played a significant role and a series of riders acquired their first bruises of the race today.”

Despite being held back as a result of the pile-up, Greipel tried to look on the bright side of life.

“I finished 196th today, but I came home safe and sound. A lot of riders were less fortunate. I wish them a speedy recovery. I also have to congratulate [stage winner] Marcel Kittel. His win is an important boost for German cycling!” 

“Of course I’m very disappointed, I’ll probably only get this chance to take the yellow jersey once; it was the opportunity of my life. I didn’t crash, but my derailleur was hit. That’s why I stood on the side of the road a few hundred meters later. Six kilometres from the end we heard that the finish would be three kilometres earlier, because there had been an incident with a bus. As a team we immediately did everything we could to ride a good sprint, but when I was hit the game was over for me. You can’t change bad luck, you have to accept it, but that doesn’t make it less disappointing.”