Tour de France 2023: Fan taking selfie causes crash on stage 15
- Published
Egan Bernal, the Tour de France winner in 2019, came down in the crash
A spectator taking a selfie caused a crash of about 20 riders on stage 15 of the Tour de France.
The stage was won by Dutchman Wout Poels as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard maintained his 10-second lead on Tadej Pogacar.
Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard's Team Jumbo-Visma team-mate, had his handlebars knocked by a fan holding out a phone.
Kuss went down with team-mate Nathan van Hooydonck and brought down a large group in the peloton.
"There was a narrowing in the town and a spectator in the road, and I guess he just clipped my handlebars," said Kuss.
"Luckily I'm OK and hopefully the other guys in the crash are all right. It's not ideal.
"I think it's fatigue. It's been such a hard race and everybody is a bit tired. You lose a bit of alertness and there's always things out of your control as well."
All the riders who crashed completed the 179km stage from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc.
Dane Vingegaard was unaffected, while stage winner Poels was in the breakaway several minutes up the road.
'Please pay attention to the riders'
Shortly after the incident, the official Tour Twitter account posted a slow-motion video of a rider ducking under a spectator's outstretched arm with the message: "Please pay attention to the riders."
Jumbo-Visma tweeted: "Please be always aware when watching cycling at the side of the road."
Team Confidis said: "Please be careful. So that the party remains a party for the runners but also for you. You don't need a cell phone to create mind-blowing memories."
Ineos Grenadiers said: "If you are spectating at this amazing event, please give the riders room to race."
The crash took place with about 50km into the stage
One of the Tour's worst crashes involving a spectator occurred in 2021, when a woman holding a sign with a message in German to her grandparents clipped rider Tony Martin on the first stage.
Two riders pulled out and eight others were treated for injuries, including Spain's Marc Soler, who broke both arms.
The woman turned herself in to police and went to court over the incident.
She was ordered to pay a symbolic one euro fine but, after receiving a barrage of abuse, her identity was withheld.
A the time, Tour director Christian Prudhomme said: "We just want people to take care when they come to the Tour and remember they are there to see the champions - and not to get on television."
'We've seen this before' - analysis
Matt Warwick, BBC Sport
Following 2021's 'Omi & Opi' scandal, in which a young woman caused a huge pile-up on stage one of the Tour, riders have been more wary of fans wanting to get close to the action.
Cycling's world governing body the UCI introduced a range of measures, external under the SafeR banner just before this race, which incorporates better assessments of high-speed descents following the death of Gino Mader last month, and more management of crowds.
At the top of the Col de Joux Plane climb on Saturday, Pogacar was held up by motorbikes and penned in by crowds standing inches from their heroes.
Across a season, the list of rider casualties is too long, but road cycling is a unique sport, growing in popularity, and trades on the volatility of competing out in the open.
Poels wins first Grand Tour stage
Wout Poels joined Team Bahrain Victorious in 2020
Poels' stage win was his first in a Grand Tour, with the Team Bahrain Victorious rider finishing two minutes eight seconds ahead of Wout van Aert and Mathieu Burgaudeau in third.
Vingegaard finished alongside Pogacar six minutes and four seconds behind Poels.
Despite attacking inside the final kilometre of the 7km climb to the finish, Slovenian Pogacar, riding for UAE Team Emirates, could not open up a gap on Vingegaard.
Monday is a rest day, before the 21-stage race resumes with a 22.4km time trial from Passy to Combloux on Tuesday.
Stage 15 results
Wout Poels (Net/Bahrain-Victorious) 4hrs 40mins 50secs
Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) +2mins 8secs
Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra/TotalEnergies) +3mins
Lawson Craddock (USA/Team 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/Team Arkea Samsic) +3mins 59secs
Warren Barguil (Fra/ Team Arkea Samsic) +4mins 20secs
General classification standings
Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 62hrs 34mins 17secs
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +10secs
Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 21secs
Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team 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/Team Jayco-AlUla) +10mins 48secs
David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +14mins 7secs
Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +14mins 18secs
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