Motorbike riders slammed for pushing and clipping Tour de France Femmes rider, after Jumbo-Visma claim race-ending crash was caused by moto

The thorny issue of motorbike riders and their influence on races – a debate that cropped up on a seemingly regular basis during this year’s men’s Tour de France – resurfaced once again at the Tour de France Femmes yesterday, as one moto rider was fined for clipping breakaway rider Kathrin Hammes, almost causing the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB rider to crash.

The incident occurred as two motorbike riders attempted to pass the day’s breakaway on the lower slopes of the Côte de Moyrazès, around 19 kilometres from the finish in Rodez, just moments after eventual stage winner Yara Kastelijn launched her race winning move.

The on-board photographers, seemingly eager to catch up with the accelerating Dutch rider, began to move past the chasing group on the right-hand side of the road.

As Hammes, enjoying her second consecutive day in the break at this year’s Tour, drifted to the right of the group, one of the passing journalists on the motorbike can be seen placing their hand on the back of the 34-year-old German rider.

Just moments later, another motorbike rider attempted to squeeze through the same gap and appeared to clip Hammes’ handlebars with the bike’s panniers, almost causing her to crash. Fortunately, the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB was able to keep herself upright, derisive shake of the head at the moto rider’s folly notwithstanding.

Following the stage, the second moto pilot was fined 200 Swiss Francs by the race jury for the close call. 

This morning Belén López, the representative of the women’s branch of the riders’ union, the CPA, said that Hammes and her sports director had spoken up in defence of the motorbike rider, arguing that “these things happen in races”. López also claimed that the German believed that excluding the rider from the race would be “too much” and that a fine was the most appropriate course of action.

Despite Hammes and her team’s pleas for leniency, CPA president Adam Hansen took to Twitter last night to vent his frustration at yet another incident this July involving motorbike riders at the Tour.

I've really enjoyed watching @LeTourFemmes, but in what universe is a motorbike allowed to push a rider out of the way?? Or is it just to let her know the next motor is about to take her out? If you can't pass safely, don't pass. We need better education for some motorbike… pic.twitter.com/w3CkDGv6aX

— Adam Hansen (@HansenAdam) July 26, 2023

“I’ve really enjoyed watching the Tour Femmes, but in what universe is a motorbike allowed to push a rider out of the way?” the former Lotto-Soudal rider asked.

“Or is it just to let her know the next motor is about to take her out? If you can’t pass safely, don't pass. We need better education for some motorbike riders.”

After one fan replied to Hansen’s tweet to point out that the initial “tap” by the moto passenger may have been made simply to warn Hammes of the danger from the next motorbike rider passing from behind, the CPA president said: “If you can’t pass without the push, then wait. Simple. Just like in men’s racing. Sometimes they wait five minutes in men’s racing to pass.”

Current Lotto-Dstny rider Thomas De Gendt, meanwhile, noted that yesterday’s incident could be solved by installing a “no pass zone” on narrow or dangerous sections of the course.

“If the organisers know a climb or road is too narrow to pass safely then that road is marked red on the map and no vehicle can pass. Mark the beginning and end with a sign,” De Gendt offered as a potential solution.

> Tour de France TV broadcasts urged to give stage winners more airtime over GC battle

Hammes’ close call with the two motos came just a day after commentators for Sporza’s Tour de France Femmes coverage in Belgium claimed that Jumbo-Visma confirmed to them that their rider Eva van Agt’s race-ending crash on stage two of this year’s race was caused by a motorbike.

Van Agt, who was also in the breakaway at the time of her crash with just six kilometres to go on Monday’s stage to Mauriac, slid out on a wet descent, ending up under the guardrail at the side of the road. The 26-year-old suffered a concussion and cuts in the horrific-looking crash. Jumbo-Visma have yet to make any official statement regarding the cause of Van Agt’s spill.

> Motorbikes that foiled Tadej Pogačar attack thrown off Tour de France for one day, as UAE Team Emirates blast “unacceptable” lack of distance from riders

The continued criticism of the increasingly alarming role motor vehicles are playing at the Tour de France comes after two incidents in the mountains during the men’s race sparked controversy and led to three motorbike riders facing brief suspensions.

On stage 14’s ascent of the Col de Joux Plane, two motorbike riders briefly blocked the road, preventing Tadej Pogačar from picking up vital bonus seconds at the top of the HC-rated climb – which, at the time anyway, appeared potentially crucial in deciding the outcome of this year’s race.

The Slovenian, who had briefly distanced yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard on the Joux Plane before being caught by the Dane towards the summit, was abruptly stopped in his tracks by the two race motos, whose riders struggled to negotiate both the encroaching crowds and the speed of the attacking white jersey.

Following Pogačar’s aborted sprint, one France Télévisions motorbike and a photography motorbike belonging to L'Équipe were fined 500 Swiss Francs and excluded for one stage for their role in the controversial incident.

> “This is like Ventoux all over again”: Thomas Voeckler excluded from Tour de France stage after motorbike chaos on Col de la Loze holds up Jonas Vingegaard

Just days later, chaos reigned once again on the Col de la Loze as the motorbike carrying French Tour hero Thomas Voeckler – working on the race as a pundit for France Télévisions – stalled on the steepest slopes of the Alpine climb, causing a traffic jam which held up several riders and forced Vingegaard to stop and briefly unclip.

The 44-year-old retired French pro – who enjoyed two lengthy spells in the yellow jersey during his career, as well as finishing fourth overall at the 2011 Tour – and his driver Joël Chary were also suspended for one day from the race and fined 500 Swiss Francs for the untimely stop, which occurred on a 24 percent bend near the summit of the Col de la Loze.

The ensuing chaos saw a number of riders who were trailing the leading duo of Felix Gall and Simon Yates, such as Pello Bilbao, David Gaudu, and Chris Harper, squeeze between the stalled motorbike, the race’s other traffic, and the swarming fans at the roadside.

However, after that group had managed to carefully pick their way through the chaos, Voeckler’s moto then blocked the path of the race commissaire’s red car – travelling in front of the yellow jersey group – which forced race leader Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma teammate Wilco Kelderman to briefly unclip (with the Dane reacting angrily, understandably, to a fan pushing him as he made his way past the car).

Other riders, such as Thibaut Pinot, also had to momentarily stop behind the commissaire’s vehicle before the road finally cleared.

> Riders’ union president Adam Hansen wants to develop a sensor to stop motorbikes influencing races

Earlier this week, CPA president Hansen responded to the seemingly endless controversies surrounding motorbikes at the Tour this July (as well as the more general and frequently cited belief that motor vehicles can influence the outcome of races by providing a handy draft for attacking or chasing riders) by pitching the concept of a sensor that will inform motorbike riders when they’re too close to the action on the road.

“Yesterday I purchased a later distance sensor,” the Australian tweeted. “I will start to develop a sensor that could be attached to motorbikes in races to govern the distance from them to the riders.

“Motorbikes influence the races too much. Too many teams and riders complain about this. Wish me luck!”

Hansen later added that the sensors would be “required on every cyclist, also every motor” and that would also “want a light to display that a motor stays too close for too long and everyone to see this.”

Could laser sensors, as Hansen suggests, finally prove the cure for all the moto-related madness at this year’s Tour?