Cofidis rider Nacer Bouhanni won yesterday’s Nokere Koerse race in Belgium, but social media users have focused on a bizarre incident involving Lotto-Soudal rider Kris Boeckmans who was filmed ‘escorting’ a rival rider to the rear of the peloton inside the final 10 kilometres.

TV footage showed Boeckmans holding an outstretched arm towards the WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect rider Justin Jules to slow him down and allow other riders to pass.

There had been a crash within the peloton at the Belgian cobbled race shortly beforehand, which could explain the behaviour of Boeckmans, a rider who spent a week in an induced coma following a crash in the 2015 edition of the Vuelta a Espana.

> Lotto-Soudal’s Kris Boeckmans in induced coma after Vuelta crash

According to Het Nieuwsblad, Boeckmans said that he had been working for team mate Jasper De Buyst when he became aware of Jules pulling on his saddle and cursing at him in French.

The newspaper noted that Jules, whose biological father was the Tour de France stage winner Pascal Jules, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 for murdering his alcoholic stepfather with an iron bar four years earlier.

Referring to the incident during yesterday’s race, Boeckmans said: “It’s not the first time he’s done that. They told me, ‘Watch out, he’s not normal, he spent three years in prison’. That shouldn’t be an excuse. Why should that lad be allowed to get away with things?”

Later, the Lotto-Soudal tweeted to explain that his foremost concern had been for the safety of himself and other riders.

One curiosity; Boeckmans was winner of the race in 2015, when Jules finished runner-up.

Yesterday, the Lotto-Soudal rider came home in 149th place while the French rider he had brought back to the rear of the peloton was 16th.