Fabio Jacobsen of Dečuninck-Quick Step crashed in the group sprint finish of the first stage of the Tour de Pollogne on Wednesday, seemingly pushing Dutch road race champion Dylan Groenewegen into the barriers.

Groenewegen was ruled to have strayed off line in the sprint, and his Jumbo-Visma team apologized on Twitter Wednesday night, saying that such a crash "should not have happened" and that they would "discuss internally what happened before making any further statements."

Not surprisingly, there was a strong reaction from Jacobsen's Deceuninck Quickstep, with director Patrick Lefevere even suggesting that Groenevegen's operation should be jailed. Lemko Evenpoel, one of the riders led by Lefebvre and a pre-race favorite to win the overall, called for a lifetime suspension.

Other Dečuninck-Quick Step riders sent messages of support to their teammate Jacobsen. Iljo Keisse knows of few other riders as strong as Jacobsen.

Team member Yves Lampert (who broke his collarbone in a crash in Milan Torino the same day) also called on "Fabke" to "win this fight" in a tweet.

"Everyone is praying for you," wrote the former Belgian road racing champion.

Many other riders crashed, including Groenewegen, and American rider Neilson Powles escaped with a "road rash," but his EF Pro Cycling team said he was cleared to ride Thursday's second stage. [Trek-Segafredo's Vincenzo Nibali said, "Forza, Fabio Jacobsen. Be strong."

Trek-Segafredo sport director and former pro Steven de Jong wrote that his thoughts were with Jacobsen and "his family and loved ones," while former rider Lance Armstrong offered "thoughts and prayers" to the Dutch road race champion, "Go! Go for it!"

Lotto Soudal veteran Thomas de Gendt perhaps best summed up the general sentiment when he tweeted: "On a day like this, you just have to call your wife and kids and tell them you love them.