On stage 15 of the Tour de France, a spectator snapping a selfie triggered a crash that injured roughly 20 cyclists.
Wout Poels of the Netherlands won the stage, while defending champion Jonas Vingegaard maintained a 10-second lead over Tadej Pogacar.
Vingegaard’s Team Jumbo-Visma teammate Sepp Kuss had his handlebars knocked off by a supporter holding out a phone.
Kuss collided with teammate Nathan van Hooydonck, bringing down a big group of riders 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.”
The 179km stage from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc was completed by all of the riders who crashed.
Dane Vingegaard was unaffected, while stage winner Poels was many minutes ahead in the breakaway.
The 179km stage from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc was completed by all of the riders who crashed.
Dane Vingegaard was unaffected, while stage winner Poels was many minutes ahead in the breakaway.
In 2021, one of the Tour’s biggest spectator collisions occurred when a woman waving a placard with a message in German to her grandparents collided with rider Tony Martin on the opening stage.
Two cyclists retired, while eight others were treated for injuries, including Marc Soler of Spain, who broke both arms.
The woman reported the incident to police and appeared in court.
She was compelled to pay a symbolic one-euro fine, but her identity was suppressed after an onslaught of abuse.
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.”
