‘It’s not a circus’: Tour de France crash caused by fan is latest on long list
It is reasonable to assume that the spectator whose cardboard sign caused the mass crash on stage one of this year’s Tour de France had never been to a bike race before. It’s almost certain too, that she won’t ever go to a bike race again – that’s if she ever feels able to appear in public. French police are still scouring north-west France for the spectator concerned.
“The Landerneau police are investigating and we haven’t heard back from them yet,” Tour deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault said after organisers ASO filed a lawsuit against the unidentified fan. “We are going to repeat our calls for fans to behave, through the police and our social network,” he added.
But Tony Martin, the first rider to collide with the spectator, was not in a conciliatory mood. “I saw the lady, I saw the sign but there was no time to react,” the Jumbo-Visma team captain said. “I still can’t understand how people can do things like that. We’re here to race our bikes – it’s not a circus.”
After the catastrophic crash, some 44km from the finish in Landerneau, riders, journalists, and team managers condemned the fan’s stupidity, some using measured language, others terms of abuse.
“It’s always very nervous this race and you don’t see the same hecticness in other races,” Doug Ryder, team principal of Team Qhubeka NextHash, said. “It was just terrible what happened, but it’s happened for years.”
Ryder is right. In 1994, a policeman, stationed inside the barriers, stepped into the path of the peloton in Armentières to take a photograph of the speeding bunch, leaving numerous riders bloodied and seriously injured in the finishing straight.
During the 1999 Tour, a teenager stepped in front of Giuseppe Guerini to take a snapshot as he rode towards an assured solo win at Alpe d’Huez ski station, and in the opening stages of the 2006 Tour, Norway’s Thor Hushovd was taken to hospital by helicopter after being hit by a giant cardboard hand given out by a race sponsor for fans to wave around.
“It’s a good thing to have all those fans on the side of the road but it brings extra stress, extra danger,” Chris Froome’s sports director at Israel StartUp Nation, Rik Verbrugghe, said. “Most of the time the fans make it pretty dangerous because they make the road narrower. But it’s part of the game, that’s what makes cycling so exciting and so beautiful.”
But Ryder was one of those who didn’t agree with the race promoter’s intention to sue the spectator. “OK, a good talking-to needs to happen, but I don’t think suing her can help,” he said. “But people do need to realise that the speed is high and to focus on the riders, not on a screen or a moment of glory.”
There have long been incidents involving fans, stray dogs, race vehicles and even ponies. It goes with the territory of the Tour, a race in which the proximity of the public has always been cherished.
But then the Tour de France is a victim of its own success. It is cycling’s showcase event, not a race targeting diehard cycling fans but a global cycling festival, drawing fans from all over the world and bringing thousands of people to the roadside.
Over the years, millions have travelled from around Europe, and much further afield, to support their favourite riders. They are not all aficionados, schooled on the nuances of the pro racing scene, able to judge the speed of an approaching peloton, or the amount of space and reaction time the riders need.
“You can’t barrier the whole route,”
Ryder said. “And anyway, you don’t want to. You want people to experience the outdoors. You don’t want the Tour to look like a prison, because bicycles are about exploring and freedom. It’s tough for the organisation and horrible for the riders, but let’s hope everyone learns from it.”
Martin’s message on social media, however, was more blunt. “Use your head or stay home!” the German veteran wrote on Instagram.