Fan causes huge crash at Tour de France 2023 that sends riders ‘down like skittles’ on Stage 15

ByEurosport

Updated 16/07/2023 at 13:58 GMT

For the second day in a row, there was a huge crash at the Tour de France. It appeared as though a fan clipped a Jumbo-Visma rider, who then careered into the peloton. It happened towards, but not right at, the front of the bunch, and the rider who was originally clipped by the fan appeared to be Sepp Kuss. Stream the 2023 Tour de France live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.com

Stage 15 of the Tour de France saw a huge crash on Sunday for the second time in the weekend.

The incident happened towards, but not right at, the front of the bunch, as a fan appeared to clip a Jumbo-Visma rider.

The rider – reportedly Sepp Kuss - then careered across the road, and in doing so, collided with other riders in the peloton, causing a huge pile-up.

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“Oh, no,” said Dan Lloyd, as Carlton Kirby exclaimed, “Oh, massive.”

Originally, Sean Kelly, alongside Kirby and Lloyd on commentary, thought it may have been a touch of wheels. However, a replay revealed that the rider was clipped by an over-zealous fan who had moved slightly into the road.

“Keep your eye on the right-hand side of the bunch," said Lloyd. "I wonder whether one of the riders might have got snagged.

As the replay continued, Lloyd went on to add further context.

"Someone taking a selfie on the side of the road. It was one of the Jumbo riders who was clipped by them, enough that he lost control.

“It was not dissimilar to the Tony Martin crash a few years ago – just somebody stepping too far out, trying to take a picture and clipping a rider, who is hugging one side of the road, and this is the consequence of that.”

Kirby and Kelly provided further detail.

“An arm came out and clipped a shoulder, and down we all came like skittles,” said Kirby, before Kelly took it up.

“Somebody just had their hand out when the riders were really close to the spectators and they just touched," he explained.

"At that speed, if they just touch your handlebar then down you go, and we can see the consequences at that speed, taking out a pack of riders.”

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Stream the 2023 Tour de France live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.com

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