“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

Tour de France hero Thomas Voeckler, currently working as a pundit for France Télévisions, has been suspended from the race for today’s stage, after his motorbike rider stalled on the steepest slopes of the Col de la Loze yesterday afternoon, causing a traffic jam which held up several riders and forced Jonas Vingegaard to stop and briefly unclip.

The 44-year-old retired French pro – who enjoyed two lengthy spells in the yellow jersey during his career, as well as finishing fourth overall at the 2011 Tour – and his driver Joël Chary were also fined 500 Swiss Francs for the untimely stop, which occurred on a 24 percent bend near the summit of the Hors Catégorie Alpine climb, with 8.4km remaining on yesterday’s stage.

French favourite and professional gurner Tommy back in his pre-motorbike riding/TV punditry days

The ensuing chaos saw a number of riders who were trailing the leading duo of Felix Gall and Simon Yates, such as Pello Bilbao, David Gaudu, and Chris Harper, squeeze between the stalled motorbike, the race’s other traffic, and the swarming fans at the roadside.

However, after that group had managed to carefully pick their way through the chaos, Voeckler’s moto then blocked the path of the race commissaire’s red car – travelling in front of the yellow jersey group – which forced race leader Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma teammate Wilco Kelderman to briefly unclip (with the Dane reacting angrily, understandably, to a fan pushing him as he made his way past the car).

.@ThibautPinot stopped on Loze by moto carnage 😭 @LeTour @GroupamaFDJ #TourdeFrance
🎥 @cottydale pic.twitter.com/EqDTxCnFcJ

— The Col Collective (@colcollective) July 19, 2023

Other riders, such as Thibaut Pinot, also had to momentarily stop behind the commissaire’s vehicle before the road finally cleared.

The carnage on the Col de la Loze was captured in all its chaotic glory by NBC’s motorbike-riding pundit, former American pro Christian Vande Velde, whose own parked bike only added to the obstacle course feel of yesterday’s final climb.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN! 😱 #TDF2023

Insane scenes as @ChristianVDV gets stuck with Jonas Vingegaard behind a blockade of vehicles struggling to get through the fans on Col de la Loze! pic.twitter.com/wZEoSP0Pil

— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 19, 2023

Referencing Chris Froome’s infamous crash into the back of a motorbike on Mont Ventoux at the 2016 Tour, Vande Velde said: “Oh no, motos are going down now ahead of us. Oh my God, this is like Ventoux all over again. The car is now stuck… The moto cannot get traction. It’s a little tense here, guys.

“The yellow jersey is being stopped by the red car! Everyone’s stuck – the red car should not have tried to pass here. I know it was trying to get out of the way, but it just made matters worse.”

> Chris Froome runs up Mont Ventoux: Twitter, Lance Armstrong, Geraint Thomas…er, and Chris Froome react

After the stage, Jumbo-Visma director Arthur van Dongen described the mountain standstill as a “terrible situation”.

“There were a lot of spectators on the road, we were standing for a long time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vingegaard – whose unplanned stop did little to hinder his relentless march to a second Tour title – reckoned that the incident was a result of a combination of the severe gradients and the frenzy on the climb so late in the race.

“It was definitely crazy, there was a lot of people. At one point I had to stand still because the car, that was unfortunate,” he said.

“But I guess that’s what can happen when you put 20 percent gradients at the end of the Tour.”

> 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 chaos on the Col de la Loze – the second time race motorbikes have affected this year’s Tour – did not, thankfully, greatly impact the stage or the race for the overall title, as Vingegaard’s closest rival Tadej Pogačar dramatically wilted in the stifling heat on the lower slopes of the final mountain.

The same could not be said for the first moto-influenced stage of the 2023 Tour, when two motorbikes blocked the road on the Col de Joux Plane on Saturday and seemingly prevented Pogačar from picking up vital bonus seconds – which, at the time anyway, appeared potentially crucial in deciding the outcome of this year’s race.

The Slovenian, who had briefly distanced yellow jersey Vingegaard on the Joux Plane before being caught by the Dane towards the summit, was abruptly stopped in his tracks by the two race motos, whose riders struggled to negotiate both the encroaching crowds and the speed of the attacking white jersey.

Like the charismatic and ever-popular Voeckler’s suspension today, one France Télévisions motorbike and a photography motorbike belonging to L'Équipe were fined 500 Swiss Francs and excluded for one stage for their role in the controversial incident.