A spectator taking a selfie prompted a crash of about 20 riders on stage 15 of the Tour de France.
The stage was received by Dutchman Wout Poels as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard maintained his 10-second lead on Tadej Pogacar.
Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard’s Staff Jumbo-Visma team-mate, had his handlebars knocked by a fan holding out a telephone.
Kuss went down with team-mate Nathan van Hooydonck and introduced down a big group within the peloton.
“There was a narrowing within the city and a spectator within the street, and I assume he simply clipped my handlebars,” stated Kuss.
“Fortunately I am OK and hopefully the opposite guys within the crash are all proper. It is not superb.
“I feel it is fatigue. It has been such a tough race and everyone is a bit drained. You lose a little bit of alertness and there is all the time issues out of your management as properly.”
All of the riders who crashed accomplished the 179km stage from Les Will get les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc.
Dane Vingegaard was unaffected, whereas stage winner Poels was within the breakaway a number of minutes up the street.
‘Please take note of the riders’
Shortly after the incident, the official Tour Twitter account posted a slow-motion video of a rider ducking below a spectator’s outstretched arm with the message: “Please take note of the riders.”
Jumbo-Visma tweeted: “Please be all the time conscious when watching biking together with the street.”
Staff Confidis stated: “Please watch out. In order that the celebration stays a celebration for the runners but in addition for you. You do not want a cellular phone to create mind-blowing reminiscences.”
Ineos Grenadiers stated: “In case you are spectating at this wonderful occasion, please give the riders room to race.”
One of many Tour’s worst crashes involving a spectator occurred in 2021, when a lady holding an indication with a message in German to her grandparents clipped rider Tony Martin on the primary stage.
Two riders pulled out and eight others had been handled for accidents, together with Spain’s Marc Soler, who broke each arms.
The girl turned herself in to police and went to courtroom over the incident.
She was ordered to pay a symbolic one euro fantastic however, after receiving a barrage of abuse, her id was withheld.
A the time, Tour director Christian Prudhomme stated: “We simply need individuals to take care after they come to the Tour and bear in mind they’re there to see the champions – and to not get on tv.”
‘We have seen this earlier than’ – evaluation
Matt Warwick, BBC Sport
Following 2021’s ‘Omi & Opi’ scandal, wherein a younger lady prompted an enormous pile-up on stage one of many Tour, riders have been extra cautious of followers desirous to get near the motion.
Biking’s world governing physique the UCI launched a variety of measures below the SafeR banner simply earlier than this race, which includes higher assessments of high-speed descents following the dying of Gino Mader final month, and extra administration of crowds.
On the prime of the Col de Joux Aircraft climb on Saturday, Pogacar was held up by motorbikes and penned in by crowds standing inches from their heroes.
Throughout a season, the record of rider casualties is simply too lengthy, however street biking is a novel sport, rising in recognition, and trades on the volatility of competing out within the open.
Poels wins first Grand Tour stage
Poels’ stage win was his first in a Grand Tour, with the Staff Bahrain Victorious rider ending two minutes eight seconds forward of Wout van Aert and Mathieu Burgaudeau in third.
Vingegaard completed alongside Pogacar six minutes and 4 seconds behind Poels.
Regardless of attacking inside the ultimate kilometre of the 7km climb to the end, Slovenian Pogacar, driving for UAE Staff Emirates, couldn’t open up a spot on Vingegaard.
Monday is a relaxation day, earlier than the 21-stage race resumes with a 22.4km time trial from Passy to Combloux on Tuesday.
Stage 15 outcomes
- Wout Poels (Web/Bahrain-Victorious) 4hrs 40mins 50secs
- Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) +2mins 8secs
- Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra/TotalEnergies) +3mins
- Lawson Craddock (USA/Staff Jayco AlUla) +3mins 10secs
- Mikel Landa (Spa/Bahrain-Victorious) +3mins 14secs
- Thibaut Pinot (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +3mins 14secs
- Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +3mins 32secs
- Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 43secs
- Simon Guglielmi (Fra/Staff Arkea Samsic) +3mins 59secs
- Warren Barguil (Fra/ Staff Arkea Samsic) +4mins 20secs
Basic classification standings
- Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 62hrs 34mins 17secs
- Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Staff Emirates) +10secs
- Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 21secs
- Adam Yates (GB/UAE Staff Emirates) +5mins 40secs
- Jai Hindley (Aus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +6mins 38secs
- Sepp Kuss (US/Jumbo-Visma) +9mins 16secs
- Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) +10mins 11secs
- Simon Yates (GB/Staff Jayco-AlUla) +10mins 48secs
- David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +14mins 7secs
- Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +14mins 18secs
