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Tour de France stage 14 resumes after big crash

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Owner of Team INEOS Jim Ratcliffe has urged cycling's governing bodies to step up their efforts towards ensuring rider safety after a crash involving some of the sport's biggest names brought fresh scrutiny.

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Tour de France team consider legal action after fan causes crash

• Pile-up brought down multiple riders in 15th stage on Sunday
• Leader Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team could press charges

The team of the Tour de France leader, Jonas Vingegaard, are considering pressing charges after a spectator caused a massive crash during the 15th stage to Saint-Gervais Mont‑Blanc on Sunday.

One of the defending champion’s key Jumbo-Visma teammates, the American climber Sepp Kuss, crashed after being caught by the outstretched arm of a fan as the peloton raced past. Kuss’s fall caused a domino effect through the peloton with multiple other riders also hitting the tarmac, in echoes of a similar incident caused by a fan with a placard, endured by the same team in the 2021 race.

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According to Reuters, the gendarmerie have identified the individual but will not arrest them unless Kuss wishes to take matters further. However, a spokesperson for Jumbo-Visma said: “The team might. We’ll find out how and when.”

The weekend’s stages were marked by several incidents involving race motorbikes and overexcited spectators. On Saturday, media motorbikes were slowed and hemmed in by large crowds at the top of the Col de Joux Plane and, as well as the mass fall on Sunday, the Latvian rider Krists Neilands also crashed while taking a drink from an in-race motorbike on a fast Alpine descent.

Team Cofidis were one of those to tell spectators that they “don’t need a cellphone to make memories”. However, the Tour de France entered into a new partnership with the social media giant TikTok shortly before this year’s race began and has actively encouraged fans to create content.

In a press release from 22 June, Julien Goupil, the media and partnerships director for the Tour promoter, ASO, described TikTok as a “perfect match” for the Tour and said “the content created at the roadside will enhance existing coverage and bring the public together around the event even more widely”.

Conscious of the need for a younger demographic of fans and influencers, the Tour has been seeking to attract a new audience for several years and is itself extremely active on social media. Selfie sticks, phones and even rogue drones are also commonplace at the roadside, despite the Tour’s best efforts to limit any interference in the racing.

But this is an impossible task. The Tour de France is a free, unticketed event that draws hundreds of thousands to the roadside, especially when it arrives in the mountains, where sleep-deprived fans camp out for days on end, living on a diet of sunshine, cheap beer and not-so-fine wines.

In reality, it is a health and safety nightmare and has been so for more than a century. The most renowned climb for spectator interaction is the hair-pinned ascent to Alpe d’Huez, where organised chaos somehow prevails as the riders pass through the sea of partying fans.

When Giuseppe Guerini broke clear of the peloton and climbed towards a career-best victory on the prestigious stage to the Alpe in July 1999, he didn’t expect to be brought down by a bespectacled 19-year-old wielding an Instamatic camera. But the Italian rider hadn’t reckoned with Eric, surname unknown, standing motionless in the middle of the most famous climb in cycling, waiting to click his shutter. The pair collided, Guerini fell, then got to his feet, received a push from the hapless Eric, yet carried on to win the stage.

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More recently, in 2016, the planned finish at the top of Mont Ventoux was aborted because of high winds at the summit and the finish line brought much lower down the mountain to Chalet Reynard. Thousands of spectators moved to the new finish line, and overcrowding caused a blockade of fans, motorbikes and fallen riders including the race leader, Chris Froome, who, with his team car blocked by the throng, opted to jog most of the remaining distance.

Such incidents are as old as the Tour itself. Tacks on the road, dogs and sometimes even horses blocking the path of riders, while brawling partisan fans trying to sabotage a rival and protesters – ranging from farmers, to fisherman and climate activists – are all part of the Tour’s history. Only a massive police presence, a huge investment in crowd barriers and the increased awareness of occasional cycling fans, rather than diehards, will eradicate the problem.

Meanwhile the duel in the sun, between Vingegaard and his closest rival, Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, who are separated by only 10 seconds, resumes on Tuesday in the 22.4km time trial from Passy to Combloux, at the foot of Mont Blanc.

It has also been confirmed that Vingegaard, whether he becomes Tour champion or not, will not be racing for Denmark in the Glasgow-based UCI world championships in August.

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Tour de France champ Vingegaard has collapsed lung after crash

Danish rider may not be able to defend his title.

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Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard remained hospitalized in Spain a day after he broke his collarbone and several ribs in a bad crash with other top riders during the Tour of Basque Country.

The Danish rider's Visma-Lease A Bike team said Friday that further tests revealed the Vingegaard also suffered a collapsed lung and a pulmonary contusion. The team said that cycling's leading star was "stable and had a good night" but remains in a hospital in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria.

The accident comes less than three months before the start of the Tour on June 29 when Vingegaard is scheduled to to again face off against top rival Tadej Pogačar. That highly anticipated rematch is now in doubt.

• 'It's been a long journey': Vingegaard wins Tour de France for 2nd consecutive year
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Vingegaard was hardly moving as he was put in an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace after the crash occurred on Thursday with less than 30 kilometres left in the race's fourth stage.

The pileup also took out cycling stars Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel.

Evenepoel, considered one of the favourites for the road race at the Paris Games, broke a collarbone and his right shoulder blade and was set to undergo surgery when he returns to Belgium on Friday, his Soudal Quick-Step team said.

The accident happened as riders were making what looked to be a conventional right-hand turn going downhill when one rider's front tire appeared to slip out and send other cyclists off the road. There were some large rocks and trees in the area, though it wasn't clear if any of the riders hit them. There was also a concrete drainage ditch place on the edge of the curve.

Roglič, a three-time Spanish Vuelta winner, emerged with just scratches but he did have to abandon the race he was leading.

Vingegaard was trying to defend the tittle he won last year at the six-day Tour of Basque Country.

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Spectator arrested for allegedly causing massive Tour de France crash

Three riders withdrew from the race, according to the organizers.

PARIS -- After a four-day search, a woman was arrested Wednesday as part of the investigation into a large crash at the Tour de France earlier last week, according to local prosecutors.

The 30-year-old suspect turned herself into police and expressed feelings "of shame, of fear, in the face of the consequences of her act," public prosecutor Camille Miansoni said Thursday. She is "distressed by the media coverage of what she calls 'her blunder,'" added Miansoni.

Prosecutors said police would take measures "proportionate to the seriousness of the facts and to the personality of the author."

The woman is accused of causing a large crash by holding a sign in front of cyclists in the opening stage of the competition on Saturday. She had allegedly left the scene before authorities arrived. Her cardboard sign read "allez opi-omi," meaning "go grandma-grandpa" in German.

After the crash, three riders withdrew from the race due to their injuries, according to the Tour's organizers, including German cyclist Jasha Sütterlin of Team DSM.

"Following the crash, he was taken to hospital for examinations which revealed no broken bones, but a severe contusion to his right wrist that will require further examinations back at home," Team DSM said in a statement about Sütterlin, who admitted he was "so disappointed."

Tony Martin, a member of top Tour contender Primoz Roglic's Jumbo Visma squad, hit the woman on the right side of the road, causing a domino effect for riders inside the peloton.

The first fall was followed by another, which injured four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome.

Riders briefly halted the race on Tuesday to protest against the danger caused by spectators who were too close to the road.

"Following the crashes during the third stage of the Tour de France, the riders have been discussing how they wish to proceed to show their dissatisfaction with safety measures in place and demand their concerns are taken seriously," the riders' union, the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés, said in a statement. "Their frustration about foreseeable and preventable action is enormous."

MORE: French authorities investigate pile up crash at the Tour de France

The local chief of police Nicolas Duvinage on Thursday called for calm in a press conference, saying the suspect was trying to send a message on TV to her grandparents and that it is "wise not to carry out a media lynching."

Fearing a backlash, Tour de France organizers decided to drop their suit against the fan in question and withdrew their complaint "for the sake of appeasement ... in the face of the excitement on social media," said Tour director Pierre-Yves Thouault. "We don't want to look like we are flogging a dead horse. But we remind you of the safety rules."

Vingegaard Has Collapsed Lung After Crash in Basque Country Race. Tour De France Defense Is in Doubt

Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard remained hospitalized in Spain on Friday, one day after he broke his collarbone and several ribs in a bad crash with other top riders during the Tour of the Basque Country

Fabio Ferrari

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard pedals on his way to win the fifth stage of the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, from Torricella Sicura to Valle Castellana, Italy, Friday, March 8, 2024. Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard remained hospitalized in Spain a day after he broke his collarbone and several ribs in a bad crash with other top riders during the Tour of Basque Country. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP, File)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard remained hospitalized in Spain on Friday, one day after he broke his collarbone and several ribs in a bad crash with other top riders during a chaotic Tour of the Basque Country.

The Danish rider’s Visma-Lease A Bike team said further tests revealed that Vingegaard also sustained a collapsed lung and a pulmonary contusion during the crash in Thursday's fourth stage. The team said cycling’s leading rider was “stable and had a good night” but remains in a hospital in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria.

The accident came less than three months before the start of the Tour de France on June 29, when Vingegaard was scheduled to again face off against his leading rival, Tadej Pogačar. The highly anticipated rematch of former champions is now in doubt.

There was more carnage at the weeklong Tour of the Basque Country on Friday, when Mikel Landa and Soudal Quick-Step teammate Gil Gelders crashed in the fifth stage. Landa, the runner-up in the race in Spain a year ago, was put into a neck brace and taken away on a stretcher.

"(Landa) was taken to the local hospital where X-rays revealed that he has suffered a fracture to his clavicle. He will now undergo further investigation to determine the best path for his recovery,” Soudal Quick-Step said later Friday.

Romain Gregoire of Groupama-FDJ won Friday's stage in a reduced sprint. Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek remained in the overall lead heading into the final stage Saturday, which features a hard climb that could shake up the general classification.

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Vingegaard was hardly moving Thursday when he was put into an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace after the harrowing crash with less than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) remaining in the stage. The pileup also took out Primoz Roglič and Remco Evenepoel, along with several other riders, many of whom needed treatment in hospitals.

Evenepoel broke a collarbone and his right shoulder blade and was set to undergo surgery when he returns to Belgium on Friday, Soudal Quick-Step said. Evenepoel said in a post on social media that “obviously my plans for the short future will change but I hope and think that my long-term goals will not change.”

The 24-year-old Evenepoel, a former road race world champion and the reigning time trial champ, is scheduled to make his Tour debut this summer before he participates in both of those events at the Paris Olympics.

Roglic, a three-time Spanish Vuelta winner, emerged with just scratches, according to his BORA-Hansgrohe team, but the reigning Olympic time-trial champion nevertheless had to abandon the race he was leading.

The accident happened Thursday as riders were making what appeared to be a conventional right-hand, downhill turn. One rider's front tire appeared to slip out and send other cyclists off the road. There were some large rocks and trees in the area, though it wasn’t clear if any of the riders hit them, along with a concrete drainage ditch on the edge of the curve.

Race director Julián Eraso said the accident was a surprise since the organizers considered the curve to be “easy” to handle.

“You never know where an accident can occur,” Eraso told Spanish radio Cadena SER. “This year the roads were good, wide, easy roads. That curve to the right was easy … (and) there was an indication a few meters before to let riders prepare for it.”

AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed to this report.

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Vingegaard breaks collarbone and several ribs in crash at race in Spain. Evenepoel also injured

Jonas Hansen Vingegaard - Team Visma - Lease A Bike, the winner of the race, celebrates on the podium with the Trident Trophy after the 59th Tirreno - Adriatico 2024, Stage from San Benedetto del Tronto to San Benedetto del Tronto, Sunday, March 10, 2024 in San Benedetto del Tronto, Tuscany, Italy. (FGianmattia D’Alberto/LaPresse via AP)

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MADRID (AP) — Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard broke his collarbone and several ribs Thursday in a crash at the Tour of Basque Country that also caught up Olympic gold medalist Primoz Roglič and Remco Evenepoel, who also sustained a broken collarbone.

Evenepoel, one of the favorites for the road race at the Paris Games, also has a broken right shoulder blade and was scheduled return to Belgium on Friday for surgery on his collarbone, his team said.

Vingegaard was hardly moving as he was put in an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace after the crash occurred with less than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) left in the fourth stage.

“Examinations at the hospital have revealed that he has a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. He remains in hospital as a precaution,” Team Visma said of the 27-year-old Danish rider, who won the race in Spain a year ago.

The accident happened as riders were making a right-hand turn, and one rider’s front tire appeared to slip out and send other riders off the road. There were some large rocks in the area, though it wasn’t clear if any of the riders hit them.

Video and images of the crash showed riders strewn alongside the road, including in a concrete drainage ditch.

Vingegaard won both races he entered this season at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Gran Camino in Spain. He is considered the heavy favorite to triumph again at the Tour, which ends with a time trial in Nice this year because of the Paris Olympics.

“Over the radio we heard Jonas was involved in a big crash,” Visma sports director Addy Engels told Eurosport. “We immediately saw that it didn’t look good when we arrived to him. Fortunately, he was conscious. Jonas is now being examined at the hospital. We are waiting for any updates now.”

Evenepoel, who won stages at the Giro d’Italia and Spanish Vuelta last year, hit the pavement and landed in a wooded area during Thursday’s crash, though he appeared to be walking away while clutching his chest.

Evenepoel’s team, Soudal Quick-Step, later confirmed that the Belgian “suffered a fracture to his right collarbone and his right scapula.” The team said he will undergo surgery “and further examination” at the hospital in Belgium.

Roglič was leading the overall race despite a heavy fall on Wednesday. He was one of the riders that ended up in the drainage ditch, and he was later spotted walking to a Bora-Hansgrohe team car and driving away with a team staff.

The injuries to Roglič came one day after his teammate, Lennard Kämna, was hit by an oncoming vehicle and sustained serious injuries while on a training ride in Tenerife. Kämna was expected to spend several days in the intensive care unit.

Other riders taken to the hospital Thursday included Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates and Steff Cras of TotalEnergies, which reported its rider was conscious and “transferred to hospital to carry out additional examinations.” EF Education-EasyPost said two of its riders, Alexander Cepeda and Sean Quinn were involved, and Quinn was forced to abandon the race and his “medical evaluation was ongoing.” Others involved in the crash included Quinten Hermans and Natnael Tesfatsion.

The race was neutralized until the finish line, and the restart had to be delayed until doctors could rejoin the race to accompany the remaining riders. Six riders who had been in a breakaway stopped to wait in the next town, and they were allowed to sprint for the stage win but neither their times nor any bonuses would count for the general classification.

Louis Meintjes of Intermarché Wanty wound up winning the stage. Mattias Skjelmose took the overall race lead.

“It’s a sad day. I wish all the guys who crashed all the best and wish them a fast recovery,” Skjelmose said at the finish. “My mind is with the guys who crashed, and right now I am not thinking about the leader’s jersey.”

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Tour de France in doubt for Jonas Vingegaard and Jay Vine after horrific crash during the Itzulia Basque Country race in Spain

Sport Tour de France in doubt for Jonas Vingegaard and Jay Vine after horrific crash during the Itzulia Basque Country race in Spain

Jonas Vingegaard has been taken to hospital along with leading Australian rider Jay Vine after some of the world's best cyclists suffered injuries in a mass crash at high speed in the Itzulia Basque Country race in Spain. 

The reigning double Tour de France champion Vingegaard was reported to have suffered a broken collarbone and several broken ribs but was "conscious" after the alarming crash that threatens his hopes of a famous treble in July.

Vine, last year's Tour Down Under winner, also ended up crashing heavily in a concrete ditch and was taken away by ambulance.

The 28-year-old was later diagnosed with a fractured cervical vertebra and two fractures in his thoracic spine, with no other major injuries or head trauma. 

It was a disastrous day for another modern-day great too, with Remco Evenepoel, the 2022 world champion, managing to walk away from the crash despite suffering what his Soudal-Quick Step later confirmed was a fracture to his right collarbone and to his right shoulder blade.

He will need surgery on Friday in Belgium.

Giro d'Italia champ Primoz Roglic, who had been the overnight leader, also abandoned the race after giving a thumbs-up to cameras from the team car to show he was OK.

In all, 12 riders near the front of the peloton were involved in the crash, which happened with about 35 kilometres left of the fourth stage between Etxarri Aranatz and Legutio, in northern Spain.

The leaders were making a sweeping right-hand turn on a slight but swift descent, with some sliding off, sending others off the road into the ditch.

Denmark's Vingegaard, who has been in spectacular form and was favourite for the 2024 Tour de France, had to be carried to the ambulance in a neck brace and needed oxygen after treatment at roadside by doctors.

The race was then neutralised until the finish, with only the six riders who had been at the front being allowed to sprint for the finish to try to win the stage, with victory eventually going to the underwhelmed South African Louis Meintjes, who admitted it was a hollow triumph.

"It's a sad day. I wish all the guys who crashed all the best and wish them a fast recovery," Mattias Skjelmose, who took the overall race lead from Roglic, said at the finish.

"My mind is with the guys who crashed, and right now I am not thinking about the leader's jersey."

The crash, which featured three of the world's most outstanding riders in Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Roglic, was also a huge blow for 25-year-old Vine, who has graduated from riding a turbo trainer in his living room to being a peloton star.

He had begun the week-long race on Monday with an exceptional time trial that had left him second behind only Roglic at that stage and revealed afterwards that the Itzulia had been only a late addition to his schedule.

Earlier on Thursday, Roglic's teammate at BORA-Hansgrohe, Lennard Kamna, was reported to be in a "stable condition" in intensive care after he had collided with a car during a training ride in Tenerife.

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A Spectator’s Sign Felled Dozens of Tour de France Racers

The French authorities were searching for a woman who they said left the scene after a German cyclist crashed into her sign, setting off a pileup during the first stage of the race.

By Jacey Fortin

The French authorities said they were looking for an unidentified woman who held a banner along the side of the road at the Tour de France on Saturday, leading to a collision that sent dozens of cyclists tumbling to the ground.

Footage from the scene shows fallen athletes in a heap of tangled legs and spinning wheels after a German rider, Tony Martin, crashed into the sign along the side of the road before falling. That set off a cascade of collisions in the middle of the peloton, a French word meaning “ball” or “group” that also refers to a cluster of cyclists in a race.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, the authorities in the French department of Finistère, in Brittany, asked for witnesses to help them identify the woman who held the banner, which said: “ALLEZ OPI-OMI!” — the French word for “go” along with two German terms of endearment for grandparents. Before the crash , she appeared to be facing away from the racers and toward the television cameras.

The accident happened during the first of the race’s 21 stages, in the municipality of Saint-Cadou, according to the authorities. The police said that the woman, who was wearing glasses and a yellow jacket, left the scene before investigators arrived.

Pierre-Yves Thouault, the deputy director of cycling with the Amaury Sport Organisation, which runs the Tour de France , told Agence France-Presse this past weekend that the organization planned to sue the woman. “We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don’t spoil the show for everyone,” he said.

On Monday, the Amaury Sport Organisation confirmed that it had made a complaint about the woman to the French authorities but did not immediately respond to a question about the potential lawsuit.

The collision was one of two major crashes on the first day of the race, causing injuries that led to the withdrawals of four cyclists: Jasha Sütterlin of Germany, Marc Soler of Spain, Cyril Lemoine of France and Ignatas Konovalovas of Lithuania.

It is not uncommon for Tour de France fans to crowd the roads and inadvertently (or even intentionally ) trip up the competitors, and the rise of spectator selfies over the past decade has compounded that risk .

But the racers have always contended with unexpected obstacles.

In 2011, a car belonging to a news crew clipped a group of riders and sent one of them, Johnny Hoogerland of the Netherlands, barreling into a barbed-wire fence . In 2018, several cyclists rode into a cloud of police tear gas that had been intended for protesters, stopping the race for about 15 minutes as the riders were treated with eyedrops.

And in a remarkable sequence of events in 2016, a swarm of spectators caused a television motorbike to stop in the cyclists’ path during Stage 12. Amid the confusion, a police vehicle crushed the bicycle of a leading competitor, Chris Froome, who then began running toward the finish line while he waited for a replacement bike to catch up with him.

After the pileup on Saturday, Martin was able to stay in the race. His team, Jumbo-Visma, said on Twitter on Sunday that “all of our riders seem to be okay after the massive and despicable crash.”

On Instagram , Martin thanked his fans for their support and added a message for “all the people next to the road who think that the #tourdefrance is a circus.”

He then offered a message “to people who think it’s nice to show their naked butt, to drunken people who push us sideways on the climbs, to people who think that it is a good idea to hold a sign into the road while the peloton is passing.”

“Please respect the riders and the #tourdefrance !” he wrote. “Use your head or stay home!”

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Defending Tour de France champ among several cyclists badly injured in ‘nasty crash’ at Basque Country Vuelta

Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and several broken ribs after being involved in a "nasty crash" during Stage 4 of the Itzulia Basque Country in Spain, his team confirmed on social media Thursday. 

Several other riders were also badly injured.

The two-time defending Tour de France champion was taken to the hospital after multiple riders were involved in a crash less than 19 miles from the finish line.

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Team Visma provided an update on X that Vingegaard, 27, was conscious and en route to the hospital. He was reportedly wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace and was hardly moving as he was placed into the ambulance. 

In their latest update, Team Visma shared that Vingegaard was stable but had sustained a number of serious injuries. 

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"It was a nasty crash, but fortunately he is stable and conscious," the update reads. "Examinations at the hospital have revealed that he has a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. He remains in hospital as a precaution. Thank you for all your messages." 

JONAS VINGEGAARD WINS TOUR DE FRANCE FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR

Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel, who was also hospitalized as a result of the crash, suffered a fractured right collarbone and scapula. His team, Soudal Quick-Step, said he would travel back to Belgium on Friday to undergo surgery.

The crash was seemingly initiated when one rider's front tire appeared to slip and sent other riders off the road.

The race was later neutralized until the finish line. Six riders who had been in a breakaway stopped to wait in the next town. They were allowed to sprint for the stage win, but their times would count for the general classification.

Among those six was eventual winner Louis Meintjes of the Intermarché Wanty team, who said after the stage that he was thinking of those that were injured.

"It’s a sad day," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter .

Original article source: Defending Tour de France champ among several cyclists badly injured in ‘nasty crash’ at Basque Country Vuelta

21 riders injured in Tour de France opening stage crashes

Soler, Sütterlin, Lemoine, Konovalovas out of the race on stage 1

Two major crashes on the 198km opening stage of the 2021 Tour de France from Brest to Landerneau have injured at least 21 riders, with Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ) suffering a head trauma, and Cyril Lemoine (B&B Hotels-KTM) with four broken ribs, a moderate pneumothorax and a head wound as the most injured and out of the race.

Marc Soler (Movistar) finished the stage just in front of the broomwagon and his team confirmed later that he fractured both elbows - the end of the radius on both arms and the ulna of his left arm and is out of the race.

Soler is the fourth abandon after Jasha Sütterlin (Team DSM) left the race with an injured hand. Sütterlin's teammates Søren Kragh Andersen and Casper Pedersen were among those listed as being treated on the scene along with Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Dries Devenyns (Deceuninck-Quickstep), Xandro Meurisse and Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Fenix), Jan Bakelants (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) and Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën), all victims of the first crash.

Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) was involved in the second of the two mass-crashes which started as a touch of wheels in the fast-moving peloton inside the final 10km. He went for additional scans along with teammate Reto Hollenstein, having difficulty breathing. He was listed with injuries to his hip and thorax in the stage 1 medical report.

Chris Froome crashes on stage 1 of Tour de France Tour de France: Spectator causes mass crash on stage 1 with Roglic taken down Tour de France: Jumbo-Visma left counting the cost after devastating crash on stage 1

Casper Pedersen, Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën), Marc Soler (Movistar), Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), Amund Grøndahl Jansen (BikeExchange), Clement Russo and Dan McLay (Arkea-Samisc), and Hollenstein all underwent radiological scans at the finish.

Teunissen, winner of stage 1 of the 2019 Tour de France, was cleared of any fractures after going down in the first crash, which was caused by a spectator who was focussed more on getting on television than on watching the race and held a sign in the road in front of the Jumbo-Visma-led peloton.

Tony Martin, who ran into the sign and was the first to crash suffered road rash but will be able to continue. “We had everything under control until the crash," Martin said. "I brought the guys to the front via the right side of the road, but crashed into the sign of the spectator. It all happened very quickly; suddenly almost the entire team was on the ground. Many spectators behave respectfully, but unfortunately not this one. Fortunately, Primoz came through it well. I hope the physical damage to myself and the other guys is manageable.”

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The 21 riders listed are only some of those who were involved in the falls, with dozens more riding off without being officially documented as having medical treatment from the race doctors. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep) won the stage with blood dripping down his right knee.

Alpecin-Fenix confirmed that Sbaragli needed stitches to his lower lip and suffered a chest contusion, while teammate Tim Merlier fell on both knees and suffered a contusion to his right thigh, a sprained right ankle and abrasions on his back and elbow. Both are expected to start stage 2.

UAE Team Emirates said Mikkel Bjerg had multiple contusions, abrasions and small lacerations on his right knee and back of his legs, Brandon McNulty hurt his right wrist and elbow and Rui Costa had road rash in addition to Hirschi's separated shoulder.

Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) said he was involved in the crash but escaped injury.

"The Tour de France is the most nervous and stressful Grand Tour and this unfortunately has always brought many crashes," Nibali said. "We have a lot GC riders that want to stay in the front and their teams as well. Unfortunately in recent past a few crashes have happened due to fans being inattentive, as happened today. It definitely wasn't a good day and a good start from this point of view.

"We need to keep a lot of attention and the fans must do the same on the road. We need respect. The peloton can be a fast train running, it can be really dangerous without the proper concentration."

Riders injured in stage 1 of the 2021 Tour de France

• DNF: Jasha Sütterlin (Team DSM) - hematoma to the hand
• DNF: Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ) - head trauma
• DNF: Cyril Lemoine (B&B Hotels-KTM) - broken ribs, punctured lung, cut on scalp
• DNS stage 2: Marc Soler (Movistar) - fractured radius, left and right, fractured ulna
• Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën) - contusion to left knee
• Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën) - 10 stitches on left forearm
• Dorion Godon (AG2R Citroën) - road rash
• Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) - road rash, stitches on right arm
• Nans Peters (AG2R Citroën) - bruised shoulder, road rash
• Michaël Schär (AG2R Citroën) - neck pain
• Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Fenix) 
• Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Fenix) - stitches on lower lip
• Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) - contusions on knees
• Dan McLay (Arkea-Samsic) - back pain
• Clément Russo (Arkea-Samsic) - thoracic trauma
• Amund Grøndahl Jansen (BikeExchange) - lumbar trauma, stitches on right elbow
• Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) - contusion to hip
• Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis) - contusion to right calf
• Dries Devenyns (Deceuninck-Quickstep)
• Søren Kragh Andersen (DSM)
• Casper Pedersen (DSM) - stitches
• Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) - hip and thoracic trauma
• Reto Hollenstein (Israel Start-Up Nation) - thoracic trauma
• Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) - road rash, trauma to elbow, hip
• Marc Soler (Movistar) - fractures on both arms
• Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) - separated shoulder

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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura's specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.

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Watch CBS News

Tour de France won't press charges against woman who caused crash

By Elaine Cobbe

July 2, 2021 / 7:31 AM EDT / CBS News

A cycling fan who caused a huge pileup on the opening day of the Tour de France on Saturday handed herself in to police in Brittany this week, but was to likely avoid prosecution as the Tour organizers decided not to press charges.

The woman leaned out into the road in front of the lead pack, holding up a homemade banner for the TV cameras and not looking out for the riders.

German competitor Tony Martin rode right into the banner and was knocked over. He fell sideways, toppling the rider beside him and setting off a domino effect that left most of the pack on the ground or at a standstill behind them.

At least 21 cyclists were injured, including four-time champion Chris Froome of Britain.

GREAT TO SEE SPECTATORS BACK INVOLVED IN SPORTS EH pic.twitter.com/Kwxj8be2Qh — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 26, 2021

Police did not name the woman, who was in custody on Wednesday. However, local media said she was a 30-year-old Frenchwoman. At first it was thought she was German because her homemade banner was a mix of French and German: "Allez opi omi" or "Go grandpa, grandma."

The woman fled the scene but police appealed to the public for information about her identity after the Tour organizers, ASO, said they would bring a lawsuit against her for involuntarily causing injury through reckless behavior — a charge that carries a $1,770 fine. 

On Thursday, however the ASO said it no longer wanted to press charges, in a bid to calm the situation, but they reminded fans to keep away from the riders.

Elaine Cobbe is a CBS News correspondent based in Paris. A veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering international events, Cobbe reports for CBS News' television, radio and digital platforms.

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Chris Froome: Another Tour de France stage win would be an 'amazing' way to end glittering career

Published 10/04/2024 at 10:20 GMT

Chris Froome was once the dominant force at the Tour de France, but after suffering serious injuries in a crash at the Criterium du Dauphine in 2019, his objectives have changed. Now 38, Froome has spoken about wanting to ride until he is 40 and also his hope to win another stage at the Tour de France. He has also given his thoughts on the "very impressive" Tadej Pogacar.

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Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard Suffer Broken Collarbones at Itzulia Basque Country

Stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country was marked by a devastating crash, which left multiple top riders hospitalized.

Among the injured, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and several fractured ribs and will remain in the hospital. Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) also suffered a broken right collarbone and right scapula, according to each of the riders’ teams.

UAE Team Emirates’ Jay Vine also sustained fractures to three of his vertebrae, while Roglič (Bora-hansgrohe), already grappling with injuries from a prior crash, was forced to abandon the race but fortunately sustained less severe injuries and was attended to by medical staff on-site.

The incident occurred approximately 35 km from the finish line as the peloton navigated a tight right-hand bend within dense woodland. One rider’s slide triggered a domino effect, resulting in multiple riders tumbling down, some landing in unprotected concrete ditches. Initial reports suggest at least ten riders were affected, six requiring immediate hospitalization.

The severity of the crash prompted the race organizers to neutralize the competition, with concerns mounting as ambulances rushed to the scene to attend to the fallen riders. The extent of the injuries varied, with some riders, like Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates, requiring hospitalization for further evaluation.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. However, local rider Mikel Bizkarra shed light on the treacherous conditions of the road, citing the presence of underlying tree roots that rendered the asphalt uneven and prone to accidents.

As the race organization dealt with the aftermath, decisions were made to neutralize the GC battle for the day, with only the breakaway riders continuing their pursuit to the finish line. Riders like Vingegaard, conscious but under observation, were transported to hospitals for further assessment.

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