Video: Idiotic spectator causes ‘worst crash ever seen’ at Tour de France
Tour de France organisers are going to sue an idiotic spectator who caused what some are calling the worst crash in the event’s history.
The roadside fan who caused a giant crash at the Tour de France is to be sued by the event’s organisers.
The woman concerned held up a banner slightly into the road and was looking straight at the television motorbike cameras with her back turned on the speeding peloton.
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German rider Tony Martin brushed past her and was knocked off balance racing near the head of the peloton, and when he fell it caused a horrifying domino effect ending in a tangle of bikes and bodies.
DSM’s German rider Jasha Sutterlin was the only one who had time to pull out at that moment but several people were hurt, including spectators.
“We are suing this woman who behaved so badly,” Tour deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault told AFP.
“We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don't spoil the show for everyone.”
Italian champion Sonny Colbrelli and Dutch rider Wout van Aert, who ran over Martin before falling head over heels, had both been amongst the favourites to win the first stage hilltop finish but were both badly delayed.
Two Ineos riders Richie Porte and Tao Geoghegan Hart both lost time, while champion Tadej Pogacar saw his right hand man Marc Hirschi badly hurt.
The crash held up the race for five minutes while bikes and bodies were untangled.
According to regional newspaper Ouest France the woman, who was wearing a yellow jacket, fled the scene and has yet to be found.
Cycling reporter Daniel McMahon called it “the worst Tour de France crash I’ve ever seen”.
NY Times journalist Juliet Macur wrote: “An imbecile fan caused this massive crash at the #TourDeFrance2021 by holding a sign that jutted into the course and took down the first of countless riders. The sign said, ‘Go, grandpa and grandma’. Those grandparents must be so proud.”
CHECK OUT THE CRASH IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
Another shocking accident later in the stage left around 20 riders lying stricken and needing attention shortly after the first mass fall.
Unlike the earlier crash caused by a fan, the second came as the peloton was going around 70kph, some 5km from the finish line.
French rider escapes from carnage
Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe dusted himself off from the terrifying scenes to claim the first yellow jersey of the Tour, winning stage one by a clear margin on a frightening opening day.
World champion Alaphilippe was a pre-race favourite due to the final climb and he shot up the ascent to take 10 bonus seconds at the finish line and also end another 12 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.
“I was in a great position at the bottom of the last hill, and I accelerated to drop all the sprinters who wanted to win, and then see who was left,” Alaphilippe explained. “We had been planning it and I’ve been thinking about it since we got to Brittany.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews is second at 12 seconds while Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic came third and is fourteen seconds down on the leader in the overall standings.
Crossing the line in his world champion’s rainbow jersey Alaphilippe put his thumb in his mouth in honour of his newborn son with his partner Marion Rousse, a former professional cyclist and now commentator.
Alaphilippe is no stranger to the yellow jersey having spent much of the 2019 Tour in the lead before finishing fifth overall.
Ineos Grenadiers leader Geraint Thomas and defending champion Tadej Pogacar were just behind the winning group on a hugely stressful finish with potential time gaps at stake that almost certainly led to the second of two mass falls on the day.
Thomas and Pogacar emerged unscathed and are just 18 seconds down in the overall standings but both had teammates caught up in crashes.
Ineos’ Richie Porte lost 2min 26sec and Tao Geoghegan Hart 5min and 43sec. “I’m gutted for Richie and Tao, but for me personally it’s not too bad,” Thomas said afterwards.
Thomas, a winner in 2018, had said he expected chaos at some time during the first week saying ‘something will happen to someone’ and his worries about four becoming three may have been understated.
The 2019 Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz is now Ineos’ latent threat and is a dark horse couple of seconds behind Thomas.
Former Ineos man Chris Froome lost 14mins 47sec after struggling to get up after the second crash and finishing gingerly.
As the peloton left Brest, where former President Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo saw them off, the familiar sight of British team Ineos at the front of the peloton returned after they had ceded their place to Roglic’s Jumbo-Visma last year.
Ineos, Jumbo-Visma and the team of UAE Emirates leader Tadej Pogacar however would be caught cold not by the tricky conditions caused at the massive 16km Bay of Douarnenez with its four broad, windswept beaches, but by the two spectacular falls.
The first crash involved around half of the peloton and sent a stark warning to roadside fans trying to get themselves on television.
“We are all happy to see fans back on the roadside, but I call on fans to be more careful,” Alaphilippe said.