Tour de France 2021: 'Horrible to watch' - Bradley Wiggins fumes at fan who caused huge Stage 1 crash

ByEurosport

Updated 27/06/2021 at 09:17 GMT

Stage 1 of the Tour de France descended into chaos on Saturday as an overzealous spectator caused a huge crash. Tony Martin (Jumbo–Visma) was hit by a placard as a fan attempted to crane their way on to the TV coverage. Bradley Wiggins has made his feelings known about the incident on The Bradley Wiggins Show. You can watch the Tour de France live and ad-free on Eurosport and the Eurosport app.

Bradley Wiggins says witnessing the huge crash caused by a fan at Stage 1 of the Tour de France was "horrible to watch" and that it "infuriates" him.

A fan on the side of the road contrived to hit Tony Martin with a placard causing a huge pile-up that brought down most of the rest of the peloton, with Wout van Aert, Primoz Roglic (both Jumbo–Visma), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) and Marc Soler (Movistar) coming down hard.

Wiggins could not believe how irresponsible the roadside fan was and that the individual's actions put livelihoods at risk.

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"She has caused murder today at the Tour de France," he told The Bradley Wiggins Show.

"People have put their livelihoods on the line. We’ve lost a rider from that crash who’s had to abandon unfortunately. Tony Martin went down… This is peoples’ livelihoods. People have trained all year for this, a very difficult year as well don’t forget, and a lot is at stake – this is the Tour de France!

"The crash at 6km to go is a race crash, this is murder! It just infuriates me.

P*** off somewhere else, go and watch tennis or golf if you’re going to do that. It’s not an opportunity to get on the telly and flash a sign that you’ve written on the back of a toilet roll or cardboard bloody box.

"We’ve lost riders. It’s just horrible. It was horrible to watch. If someone did that on the roadside in public with a cyclist coming down the road, they’d be thrown in prison.

"This is nothing new, it’s been happening for years and years. And they are part of the race; the spectators are part of the race and part of the spectacle as well. It’s what makes this sport so beautiful."

‘I have no sympathy’ – Wiggins on fan who caused huge Stage 1 crash

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