“Netflix effect” could be behind rowdier Tour de France crowds, says race director

The recent Netflix documentary series on the Tour de France could be behind the rowdier crowds and frequently chaotic scenes at this year’s race, the Tour’s race director Thierry Gouvenou has acknowledged.

‘Tour de France: Unchained’, the eight-part series focusing on the 2022 edition of the Tour, first aired on the streaming giant in June, and – just like Netflix’s Drive to Survive series attracted a new audience to Formula One – is believed to be behind the influx of new, younger fans at the roadside over the past three weeks.

However, it has been increasingly noted by pundits and fans that some of these new Netflix-inspired supporters may be unfamiliar with the etiquette traditionally associated with bike race spectating, and may have provided the catalyst for some of the more chaotic and unsavoury incidents at this year’s Tour.

(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

On Wednesday’s stage 17, as the riders neared the summit of the Col de la Loze, Bahrain Victorious’ Pello Bilbao was caught on camera striking out at a spectator who was running alongside the riders, blocking his path in the process, with the Basque rider earning himself an official warning from the race commissaires for his retaliation.

> “Respect the riders”: Pello Bilbao receives “outrageous” warning after punching spectator during Tour de France stage

Just moments later, Bilbao and his fellow breakaway riders were forced to squeeze their way through a traffic jam caused by a stalled motorbike – carrying former Tour yellow jersey wearer Tommy Voeckler – and a swarming crowd on a steep bend. Race leader Jonas Vingegaard, however, wasn’t so lucky and was forced to stop behind the race director’s car as the chaos unfolded in front of him.

According to the Guardian’s Jeremy Whittle, one team manager pointed to the surprising number of small children on the race route and said that he was “very angry” at the lack of crowd control on Wednesday’s narrow, final climb.

> “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

The chaotic scenes on the Col de la Loze came just days after an attack from Tadej Pogačar at the top of the Col de Joux Plane was abruptly stopped by two race motorbikes blocking the road, after their riders struggled to negotiate both the encroaching crowds and the speed of the sprinting Slovenian.

A day later, a selfie-taking spectator struck Sepp Kuss with his arm, causing a massive pile-up in the peloton and injuring several riders, with the American’s Jumbo-Visma team since threatening to press charges against the phone-wielding fan.

> Jumbo-Visma willing to sue Tour de France spectator who caused huge crash while taking selfie

And earlier in the Tour, Bora-Hansgrohe’s Jordi Meeus was hit by a spectator’s phone during a sprint finish, while Lilian Calmejane was bizarrely brought down by a washing line-based fan tribute and TotalEnergies’ Steff Cras was forced to abandon the race due to what he claimed was a crash caused by fans spilling onto the road.

The Tour’s race director Thierry Gouvenou has acknowledged the apparent “Netflix effect” in attracting a seemingly rowdier crowd to the roadside this July, though he also noted that the exciting racing and a new breed of phone-obsessed sports fan could be behind the chaotic scenes we’ve witnessed over the past three weeks.

> Spectators cause two crashes in two days at Tour de France, Steff Cras forced to leave and blasts them saying "you have no respect"

“This year the Tour has been exciting and there are many, many more spectators than in other years,” Gouvenou told the Guardian.

“And it’s a slightly different crowd, one that’s a bit more festive and less respectful, that doesn’t know the etiquette of a good supporter. So it’s true that in some places, we’ve found ourselves in a bit of difficulty.

“I don’t know if it’s the Netflix effect. I know the viewer wants to be with his phone and he wants to put himself in the picture, in the Tour de France. That’s the way it is.”

Portuguese sports newspaper Record also reported Gouvenou to have said: “We have been faced with a new audience, which we didn’t expect. I don’t know whether it’s the Netflix effect or the intensity of the Pogačar-Vingegaard duel, but we’re a little lacking in resources.

“Before we had complicated spots like Alpe d’Huez or Ventoux. But now it’s everywhere.”

> 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 race director also promised, after the recent influence of race motorbikes, to review the number of vehicles used on the Tour’s narrowest and steepest climbs.

“The gradient on the section of the Loze where there have been problems is more than 20 percent,” he said. “Barriers in 20 percent sections don’t work.

“We’re going to have to review the number of vehicles in these difficult sections. Maybe we have too many media around the riders in these passages where we know there are going to be people and steep gradients, but we’re not going to ban the public from coming to the Tour de France.”