Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO
A spectator incident caused a massive pileup during Stage 15 of the Tour de France on Sunday (July 16).
Footage shared by NBC Sports shows at least 10 riders falling at around 129 kilometers (80 miles) as cyclists traveled from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc. A fan was seen attempting to take a selfie and clipped a rider who lost control, leading to the ensuing pileup, according to Eurosport commentator Dan Lloyd during the live broadcast.
“Someone taking a selfie on the side of the road,” Lloyd said via CNN. “It was one of the Jumbo riders who was clipped by them enough that he lost control … just somebody stepping too far out, trying to take a picture, clipping the riders who are hugging one side of the road to the other, and this is the consequence of that."
“An arm came out and clipped a shoulder, and down we all came like skittles,” added Carlton Kirby during the Eurosport broadcast.
Team Jumbo-Visma rider Sepp Kuss was identified as the cyclist who was initially hit by the spectator. The stage resumed as all cyclists were able to get back on their bikes without further incident, though many social media users, including key sponsors, were angered by the incident.
"Please be always aware when watching cycling at the side of the road," Team Jumbo-Visma Cycling tweeted after the incident, specifying that Sepp and teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck were "back in the peleton now" in a followup post.
Wout Poels of the Netherlands won the 15th stage on Sunday.
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