Tour De France Spectators

[cakeorwine]

Watching some of it today and have been watching the highlights over the week. I was aware of a crash a few years ago - and you can see why.

No standing by the side of the road cheering them on whilst leaving a big space in the road here. You have loads of them on the road creating a narrow space. Waving flags, placards, getting right in the face of the cyclists.

People racing up the road with them as they race up the mountain. Several blokes were topless.

Apparently some of the cyclists have tweeted about the accidents that have happened this tour because of spectator.

I get they are excited about the race. But why crowd on to the road to create such a narrow space? Why not just stand by the road and not get in the face of the cyclists?

I don't know what the actual cyclists think - does it encourage them?

They are idiots.

That's the beauty of the open roads but people seem desperate to be on tv whilst wearing a mankini or waving their fists or getting a selfie. Can't barrier 3000 km of roads. The recent stage up Puy de Dome was barred to spectators as the road was too narrow

I agree, some people are just plain stupid. I do think they should ban flags and other obstacles on the mountain stages. Whilst you can't barrier the route, you can have marshals near the summits confiscating things likely to hinder the riders.

Several blokes were topless.

🤣🤣🤣

Relevance to the safety of the cyclists??

Yep it was pretty grim today and effected the race (well, the crowds plus the odd Moto..)

What doesn't help behaviour is that by the time the cyclists get to some of more famous climbs a fair few spectators will have sunk a considerable amount of booze...

Over the years I've been at the roadside for a few climbs in the Pyrenees and there's no doubt for some the partying started the night before..

Fans creating a narrow path (especially when it's one cyclist out front) is a French tradition. I love it. The atmosphere really adds to the climbs. When there's a few cyclists in front though that's when it can get a bit tight.

First time I've really watched it.

I know you can't barrier the roads but it's not too difficult to just stand by the sides.

You can see how it could affect the race. Difficult to race past if people are in the way

Look at the spectators in rally racing, these people do not think.

Problem is if you just stand by the side on a non barriered but crowded bit you'll see pretty much zero.

What happens is when the riders approach everybody starts trying to move inwards/lean forward to look down the hill and you end up with everything narrowing into the tiny channel you see on TV....

TBH if you ever do a mountain stage as a spectator it's worth arriving early enough to get high enough up the mountain to be behind the barriers near the top...but (and I kid you not) that might mean arriving 1, 2 or even 3 days before the race...

What happens is when the riders approach everybody starts trying to move inwards/lean forward to look down the hill and you end up with everything narrowing into the tiny channel you see on TV

I figured that. If one person does it, more and more do it....so everyone does it.

Crowd psychology

A fan caused a crash today

Fan trying to take a selfie causes a crash at stage 15 of the Tour de France | Daily Mail Online

And you could see the effects of the crowd which meant a motorbike struggled to get through which reduced the chances of an overtake happening on a climb yesterday.

yep….that sort of things has happened before. TBF though I think the fans have generally been a bit better today, until the final climb anyhow. That accident happened on the level and what a lot of casual spectators don’t realise is how quick the peloton is moving on the flat, you really can really get caught out if you don’t pay attention..

FWIW we have a narrow, very short but very steep Tour climb a few kilometers from us and after a crowd related incident on it a few years back it now gets closed completely to spectators when the Tour uses it… (bloody horrible climb…tried it on the bike once, did it but never ever again…..)…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mur_de_Péguère

FWIW something like this gets aired on French TV everyday during the Tour..

The various guides/programs spell out the problems it’s not just the cyclists, there is a preceding publicity caravan, and usually there’s a loudspeakered warning not long before the actual riders approach…doesn’t stop the idiots..

We haven’t had the lose *** dog event yet but it’s almost every year

Think I've seen all of those recently....apart from the animals.

People running along, pushing the cyclists.

The dog issue 🤦‍♀️. The riders surprise me with their stoicism

The Tour de France is like that every year. It’s not ideal safety-wise but the nature of the route being on long stretches of public road makes it more or less impossible to put spectators behind barriers for the whole length of each stage.

There’s definitely poor behaviour from some spectators, but sadly it’s nothing new.

Ouch, did the dog survive?

We've been watching the netflix tour de france programme. Its a brutal race but my, how the french love it, its great to see actually.

I don't know what the actual cyclists think - does it encourage them?

Geraint Thomas & Luke Rowe have talked about this on their podcast, so have other cyclists when interviewed. Generally the pro cyclists like fan enthusiasm. aside: Thomas also said that on training camps sometimes an amateur joins the their group ride which is actually fine as long as interloper says hello and is friendly, rather than lurk like a bad silent smell.

This is my impression:
Keep in mind the whole TdF & other grand tours & even the little races (like Giro Donne) are intensely inherently commercial events. Those crazy fans pay team salaries, directly or via products that sponsors sell, is what the cyclists think. Moreover, cyclists are fans themselves & some as kids obsessively watched Grand Tours, went to them to stand & cheer by the road, too.

That said, the pros of course prefer fans not actually getting in the way. There was a very funny clip of a fan getting slapped around the head by an irate pro cyclist knocked off bike a few years ago. That might have been Vuelta or Giro... I am pretty sure the cyclist was not even fined by organisers, in spite of basically committing assault on camera.

aside #2: I had to look up why van Aert has such a helpfully distinctive helmet. I wonder if sponsor helmets will become a more common 'thing'.

@lljkk

Contador took a swing at a spectator on the Alpe I think, obviously a few years back…and of course even further back there’s the Merckx incident where he went back down the mountain to err….sort out a fan who had taken a pop at him as he rode past on the ascent..

Miguel Angel Lopez in 2019 Giro... slapping fan & stamping on his hat.

Episode 5 of the Netflix docudrama has a few comments from riders about the overcrowding fans, good & bad.

I’m was there today. As said by PP some fans have been here for days in not much shade so lots of drinking Lots of male groups egging each other on and very tight corners that everyone is craning to get first look at the cyclists. It’s not a nice atmosphere at times unfortunately and feels very self absorbed and in their own moment, not the event or respecting the phenomenal effort those riders put in. Basically knob heads .

The Tour de France crowds can be crazy, but they have nothing on rally crowds back in the sport’s heyday in the 80s…

I was wondering this year what happened to the woman from previous year who caused a big accident by holding a sign into the road - didn’t she have to go into hiding or something?

What could go wrong with that !!!