“We don’t need a stage ruined because of a basic photo taken on a phone”: Tour de France fan almost brings down Jonas Vingegaard while stepping into road to take photo of speeding peloton

It may have been swiftly forgotten amid the euphoric scenes that followed Mark Cavendish’s sensational, record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win yesterday afternoon, but the 2024 Tour’s patchy record of fans causing or almost causing crashes continued a matter of minutes before that stunning finish in Saint-Vulbas – when an oblivious spectator encroached onto the road to take a photo, almost bringing most of the Visma-Lease a Bike team, including reigning double Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard, down.

The close call, which took place with just over 16km remaining of stage five, as the sprinters’ and GC teams ramped up the pace, came just days after the Tour organisers issued a warning telling anyone venturing to the roadside to watch the race to “please respect the riders” and “stay away from the road”, after a fan filming the race had their mobile phone knocked from their hand when they inadvertently hit a rider from EF Education-EasyPost as the peloton passed at speed during stage two.

The latest near miss on stage five, luckily, didn’t lead to any contact between the riders and the spectator in question, who was stood on a narrow hard shoulder in an attempt to take a photo or video of the speeding peloton on his phone.

> Mark Cavendish makes history with record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win

However, with both Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike team and race leader Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad battling for position on the left-hand side of the road during the tricky run-in, the spectator soon found himself directly in the path of the riders.

Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson, stationed just in front of his team leader Vingegaard, could be seen waving frantically at the spectator, before being forced, along with a number of riders from Lotto-Dstny, to duck under the fan’s outstretched elbow.

Finally realising the folly of his position on the road, just as some of the world’s best cyclists narrowly avoided hitting him, the spectator lurched back towards the grass verge, as Jorgenson shook his head in frustration.

Yeahh, we don't need a stage ruined because of a basic photo taken on a phone#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/z8OupXvXUN

— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) July 3, 2024

“The bloke’s taking a photo on the side of the road and putting himself amongst the peloton, they’re ducking under his elbow – another close call,” an exasperated Robbie McEwen, a 12-time Tour de France stage winner, said while commentating for Eurosport.

“With all the variables involved in a bunch sprint, we don’t need the spectators getting involved,” added Ned Boulting on ITV4.

Meanwhile, on social media, fans were scathingly critical of the latest oblivious, phone-wielding spectator to almost cause a crash at this year’s race.

“We don't need a stage ruined because of a basic photo taken on a phone,” said cycling writer Mathew Mitchell on X, formerly Twitter.

“The good news: the roads are dry again. The bad news: the people are still idiots, staying with their phones in the road,” wrote Mihai Simon.

“The moment you step on the road it’s like if you invade the pitch in a football game – because the road IS the pitch of the riders,” added the La Flamme Rouge account.

Visma-Lease a Bike’s impromptu bout of spectator-induced ducking and diving was, remarkably, the third time in the Tour’s opening five stages that encroaching fans have caused a nuisance, or worse, for the race’s riders.

> "That could have been an absolute disaster": Tour de France cyclist hit by fan filming race on mobile phone

As noted earlier, during Sunday’s stage from Cesenatico to Bologna, an EF Education-EasyPost rider was hit by a spectator’s elbow as she filmed the race, sending her phone flying but thankfully not causing a crash.

And on Saturday, before the Tour had even rolled out of Florence for its opening stage, Soudal Quick-Step rider Jan Hirt was riding from the race sign-on area to his team bus, when he crashed after tangling with a backpack belonging to a spectator – who had allegedly “jumped a barrier”, along with several others, to enter an area prohibited to fans – breaking three teeth and busting his lip in the process, a bizarre fall described by Hirt’s team boss Patrick Lefevere as “unacceptable”.

> Patrick Lefevere furious with "unacceptable" Tour de France crash caused by "stupid" barrier-jumping fan that saw Soudal Quick-Step pro break three teeth before race had even begun

Those two incidents prompted the official Tour de France account on Twitter/X to post a video of Sunday’s close call as a warning to spectators, urging roadside fans to “respect the riders” and “stay away from the road”.

The issue of fans encroaching on the road as the peloton passes, especially while taking photos, has been an increasingly prominent one in recent years – and one that has affected Visma-Lease a Bike a seemingly disproportionate number of times.

On stage 15 of the 2023 Tour to Saint-Gervais, a mass crash was caused by a spectator leaning into the road to take a photo, taking out key Visma climber Sepp Kuss.

The resulting pile-up also saw Kuss’s teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck affected, while 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal and Eritrean sensation Biniam Girmay also crashed.

Jorgenson, Vingegaard, and co.’s lucky escape during yesterday’s stage to Saint-Vulbas also brought to mind the infamous incident from the opening stage of the 2021 Tour, when a fan brandishing a sign emblazoned with ‘Allez Opi-Omi’, and looking in the opposite direction, clipped Jumbo-Visma’s Tony Martin, causing a mass pile-up and leaving three riders, including Martin, too injured to continue the race.

The 31-year-old, who initially fled the scene but turned herself into police four days later, was fined €1,200 and also ordered to pay a symbolic €1 to the French Cycling Union, UNCP.

She had been charged with “endangering others by manifestly deliberate violation of a regulatory obligation of safety and prudence”, causing “involuntary injuries, with incapacity not exceeding three months”.

The maximum penalty she could have faced was a €15,000 fine and/or 12 months’ imprisonment, although prosecutors had sought a four-month suspended sentence, which they said was intended to act as a “warning”.

Ultimately, she avoided jail time but received a hefty fine, the woman saying she felt “ashamed” by her actions and was left to “regret my stupidity”.

Last year’s selfie-related spill also came just days after Stef Cras was forced to abandon the Tour when a spectator leaned into the road and caused a crash, and a flag being waved by a fan got stuck in the wheels of Lilian Calmejane, causing Cras to claim some fans “have no respect” for the riders.