Bizarre moment Tour de France rider snatches cardboard sign off stunned fan
TV cameras have spotted the wild moment a Tour de France rider stole a fan’s sign and shoved it down his shirt, with a bizarre explanation now emerging.
This is the baffling moment a cyclist snatched a cardboard sign off a stunned fan during the Tour de France.
In one of the highlights of an unremarkable Stage 14, Julian Alaphillippe was forced to take decisive action on Sunday (AEST).
But Alaphilippe, 33, had a brilliant reason for grabbing it, The Sun reports.
The home hero stole the cardboard to keep himself warm in the brutal conditions on the savage slopes of the Col du Tourmalet.
The spectator, who had scribbled words of encouragement to his rival Wout van Aret, had reached for a cheeky handshake.
But it was the sign that Alaphilippe was after, with the cardboard tearing in half as the Frenchman disappeared up the rainy road.
You can watch the bizarre incident in the video above
He calmly placed the placard across his handlebars, ripped it into two smaller pieces, while tossing the scraps away.
Alaphilippe was then spotted unzipping his Tudor Pro cycling trisuit, before stuffing the sign inside, in a last-ditch attempt to preserve body heat.
Former stage winner Zdenek Stybar said: “Julian is really suffering from the cold”.
The Tourmalet, the first of four brutal climbs, was living up to its fearsome reputation over the weekend.
And around 30km later, after the worst of the conditions had passed, Alaphilippe flagged down the camera motorbike.
He appeared to issue a roadside apology, before handing over the soggy remains of the sign.
It has since been revealed that Alaphilippe apologised to the fan later while meeting her and offering her a gift.
The two-time world champion Frenchman said: “In the end the story ended well, I apologised to the woman whom I took it from.
“I gave her a bib, and she took a picture with Wout. In the end, thanks to this, she had a better time compared to what she would have experienced at the top of the Tourmalet.”
It was a rare moment of drama on an otherwise savage day in the mountains, where Remco Evenepoel abandoned the race on the first climb.
Alaphilippe ultimately finished in 50th place, way behind maiden stage winner Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), who held off Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Reigning champ Pogacar, who finished the stage second, marginally extended his commanding overall lead over Jonas Vingegaard.
Meanwhile, Alaphilippe was among a group of riders to receive medical attention after being caught up in a big crash on Stage 15 on Sunday.
Wellens wins stage as Pogacar maintains Tour de France stranglehold
Tim Wellens of Team UAE won a baking and hilly stage 15 of the Tour de France at Carcassonne on Monday morning (AEST) after a 45km solo rampage towards the walled citadel.
Overall leader Tadej Pogacar held on to the overall lead with a 4min 13sec advantage on Jonas Vingegaard, who had to fight to catch up when caught behind an early mass fall.
Wellens had been part of an early break which only really got away once the fall sent a shockwave though the race.
It was a large and mixed group that was whittled down to five before the Belgian champion suddenly accelerated and caught the others napping.
This was a fifth win for Team UAE with Pogacar previously having won four stages on a thoroughly dominant Tour for the team.
Wellens was so far ahead at the finish line he had time to high five dozens of Belgian fans on the run in on the eve of Belgium’s national holiday.
“This makes me happier than winning a stage myself,” said Pogacar. “He helps me keep this thing every day,” he said pointing to the jersey.
Having previously won stages on the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana this triumph completes the set of stage wins on the three big tours for Wellens.
“Everybody wants to win a stage at the Tour de France, this is the special one,” said Wellens.
“I knew I was going to complete the trilogy and was enjoying the home straight with the fans. I’d been planning to lift the bike in the air, but I was so happy I forgot to do it”
The remaining 167 of 184 riders embarked towards Carcassonne on yet another nervy stage.
After a mass fall early on with Florian Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a pack of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up.
There was embarrassment for Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, who celebrated at the line thinking he had won when in fact he was third.
Sprinting for third place long after Wellens and Victor Campenaerts took the top two spots, Alaphilippe pipped Wout van Aert at the line.
Poor Alaphilippe hung his head when his horrified compatriots told him. He had been part of the early fall, losing his race radio, and had no idea the stage had already been won, he explained.
Pogacar entered the Pyrenees on Thursday trailing in second behind surprise yellow jersey Ben Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four-minute advantage at the top of the overall standings in his bid for a fourth Tour de France title.
The defending champion said he had been ill.
“Half the peloton is coughing,” said Pogacar. “I’ve got this red nose. It’s because of all the ice packs and air conditioning I think, but I’m better now.” Monday is the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday’s stage 16 with the 15.8km ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9 percent gradient to its 1901m high summit.
“Mont Ventoux is for after the day off, so I don’t want to talk about it now,” Pogacar said after the podium ceremony at Carcassonne.
“All I know is that Jonas will be attacking, I just don’t want to think about it.”
- with AFP and The Sun
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