There are two lasting pictures from the Tour of Flanders last Sunday. One was winner Alexander Kristoff crossing the line to take the biggest win of his career. The other was the image of Jessie Sergent lying on the ground with a broken collarbone after being his by the Shimano Neutral Service car while riding in the breakaway.

Soon, the Shimano car was at it again, hitting the back of the FDJ car, which knocked FDJ man Sebastian Chavanel over, ending his race, thankfully without injury. This came just 20km after the Sergent incident had occurred.

“These things can happen in a race because we know that riders and cars can very often be close to each other,” Trek manager Luca Guercilena told Cyclingnews. “But in this kind of situation, the neutral car was just passing the breakaway when the gap was still four minutes and the trajectory of the riders seemed clear that they were closing to the left side because the turn was on the left.”

FDJ manager Marc Madiot explained how the Chavanel incident took place to Cyclingpro.net.

We were called to help Sébastien Chavanel. When we came behind him, we were hit by a neutral service car. In a race like Flanders, it can happen but luckily we had our seatbelts on. He pushed us forward twenty meters and we collided with Seb. Thank God, he is not injured.”

After the race, Shimano, who supply the cars for all WorldTour races as well as several other races on the international calendar, issued a small statement, stating their desire to investigate the incident and apologise to the two riders who were hit.

“At Shimano we apologize for both incidents the Shimano sponsored neutral caused today at the Tour of Flanders,” the statement reads.
 

“We especially apologize to the riders and teams involved, Jesse Sergent of Trek Factory Racing and Sébastien Chavanel of Française des Jeux. We wish them a speedy recovery.”

“The drivers of the neutral cars are professionals with many years of experience in professional cycling races. We will investigate both incidents deeply and take appropriate action.”