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news
Jan Hirt injured by fan before start of 2024 Tour de France (Patrick Lefevere)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
Soudal Quick-Step team boss Patrick Lefevere has been typically outspoken about the incident which saw Jan Hirt crash and break three teeth before the Tour de France had even rolled out of Florence for stage one yesterday, the Belgian today saying the "unacceptable" situation was caused by a "stupid" barrier-jumping fan who brought the Czech climber down as he rode back to the team bus after signing on.
In a now-deleted social media post published shortly before the Tour got underway in Florence, which featured a painful-looking image of Hirt with three broken teeth, a busted nose and lip, Lefevere claimed that a backpack-wearing spectator caused the collision, which took place after the 33-year-old signed on for stage one of cycling’s biggest race.
Speaking to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad at Sunday's start in Cesenatico, Lefevere revealed more details, explaining that Hirt had been unable to eat on the bike and had been treated at a private dental surgery after the stage.
"What happened is unacceptable. We have so many rules and we have to pay for everything. And then the collision happens with that stupid spectator and his backpack," Lefevere said.
"Yesterday he couldn't eat during the ride, not even gels. He survived the entire ride on water bottles. I arranged for him to have surgery yesterday in a private clinic. Fortunately, in the evening he was back at the hotel with three repaired teeth."
According to other reports in Belgium, as Hirt made his way back to his team bus area following the sign-on – an often chaotic, tight environment filled with vehicles, riders, team staff, and spectators – the fan, who also reportedly “jumped a barrier”, according to Soudal Quick-Step staff, came into contact with the Czech rider.
Hirt then got tangled in the spectator’s rucksack, prompting him to fall over his handlebars, landing face-first on the road.
There 100 rules for the team but one with backpack made crashing jan Hirt between the signings and the bus. 😡😡😡.
3 teeth broken pic.twitter.com/gth0T4AqDH— Patrick Lefevere (@PatLefevere) June 29, 2024
“There [are] 100 rules for the team but one [person] with a backpack made crashing Jan Hirt between the signings and the bus. Three teeth broken,” the normally outspoken Lefevere tweeted just as the peloton rode out of Florence in the neutralised zone before the start of stage one.
“I am amazed this doesn’t happen more,” former cycling journalist and Jayco AlUla press officer Sadhbh O’Shea posted in response to the unfortunate collision.
“So many people by the buses and many of them not really paying attention to what’s going on around them. It doesn’t help that often the bus parking is squeezed into narrow spaces. Hopefully Jan Hirt will be ok, minus the broken teeth.”
Hirt, a Giro d’Italia stage winner in 2022 who is expected to play a pivotal role as part of Remco Evenepoel’s climbing support as the Belgian aims to win his debut Tour, was seen struggling at the start of yesterday’s stage at the back of the peloton.
> Selfie-taking spectator causes huge crash at Tour de France
The first crash of the Tour – which took place before the race even started – will add to the fears of many riders when it comes to the proximity of unsuspecting fans, especially after a number of spectator-related incidents at last year’s race.
During Sunday's second stage, an EF Education-EasyPost rider was hit by a spectator holding a phone to film the race passing. The spectator was seen looking for the mobile device after it was knocked from her hand by the impact with the rider, thankfully nobody falling as a result.
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.
The spectator-caused crash 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.
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.
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
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14 comments
<Rant>
I have to say that this incident is entirely the fault of the ASO. If they didn't make fan access at the start and finish so exclusive, only available to the corporate elite who probably don't really give a fvck about cycling but are only there for the prawn sandwiches and the reflected glory and whose companies are prepared to pay a metric fvckton of cash for the privilege, then fans wouldn't feel the need to jump fences and get in riders' ways to get a glimpse. Inspired by trying to get near a start in 2019 with my young kids, who were excited beyond known limits, but being turned away because we weren't prepared/able to pay 4x 120 euro to get in.
</Rant>.
ASO should consider barriers on the entire route to prevent mishaps like the butt-wipe and her phone almost bringing down the EF rider.
Lovely idea, but you do know how long the stages are, right? The cost and logistics involved would be astronomical.
Apologies for omitting the sarcasm emoji.
Forgiven. Sarcasm can be a fine line - cross it and things can go wrong
There should be a roadsweeper type vehicle that rides ahead of the race to clear the roads and anybody interfering with a rider in any way, shape or form should be charged with assault.
You wouldn't get that type of crowd infringement in the Isle of Man TT for example.
You can't have vehicles in front of the peloton. Either the vehicle will directly interfere with the race because it is too close, or it will be so far in front that there is more than enough time for spectators to move back in to a dangerous position.
I understand the comparison with the IoM TT but riders have died crashing there, and would you want to be hit by a 300kg brick travelling at 200mph? Such an impact will kill every time, but an impact with an 85kg bike + rider combo at 30mph is in many cases survivable, and not always even requiring hospital treatment. I suspect that may have something to do with the difference.
You can't feasably change how accessible cycling is to its fans. But over the last couple of decades, its fans have slowly changed its behaviour when roadside, often due to technology and outreach. Everyone owns what is effectively a pocket sized wireless computer with high quality recording equipment built in. And people are willing to risk everything for the perfect shot just to show the world "I've been there". Knowing that its outreach is also global.
Eh? There are about a hundred* cars and motorbikes in front of the peleton, and some of them are used to try to 'push back' the crowds. Of course, all that happens is that people just edge back in again after they've passed.
[*give or take...]
The selfie is also a strong element of that problem. It used to be that simply having a photograph of something was a clear enough indication that "I was there", but seemingly that isn't believable enough nowadays and the picture taker has to actually be *in* the shot as well, to the detriment of both the safety of others and the quality of photography the average Joe(sephine) produces.
YES!!!
What a final!
And the highlights show failed to finish by playing SL2's On a Ragga Tip, which is the perfect tune to play over the mini montage, they did the last time he won a stage.
I was of course going to make reference to this fine piece of work earlier, however I thought I'd avoid the inevitable replies decrying spoilers of cycling results on a cycling website with cycling news and a cycling discussion forum.
Yes, look forward to multiple complaints from the usual suspects. I went for a ride this morning and was planning to settle in and watch the whole day live but had forgotten a family commitment in the afternoon, so when I got home about 5PM I went straight to Discovery+ and watched "as live" from KM150, only coming here when it was finished to avoid spoilers. Turns out if you use that one weird trick...
They played it over this morning's recap.