cycling
Fans at the Tour de France: Pleasure and danger for professional cyclists
Fans cheer on James Shaw (M) from Great Britain and Harold Tejada from Colombia. photo
© Daniel Cole/AP/dpa
Fans spur on the riders of the Tour de France to top performances. That impresses the Radstars, sometimes it causes danger. Georg Zimmermann was annoyed after the descent from the Grand Colombier.
Usually enjoys Georg Zimmermann was close to the fans, but he would have preferred to take a different route on the descent from the Grand Colombier.
“It’s normal for us that we have to go 18 kilometers through the chaos, past pretty drunk fans. I don’t want to blame them, they’re having fun, but it’s dangerous and uncomfortable,” said the climber after his 13th Place in the 13th stage of the Tour de France.
Climbing big mountains on the Tour of France with euphoric fans makes for electrifying images, but sometimes it feels like running the gauntlet for the exhausted pros. “Let a football team run a lap through the stands of the stadium after 120 minutes of play at full throttle. They probably wouldn’t want to do that again,” added the 25-year-old. The man from Augsburg was part of a breakaway group for a long time on the national holiday, but lost contact early on on the final climb.
Target arrivals on mountains
The cyclists often have to ride down the same path as they pedaled up before. They are then equipped with a whistle to draw attention to themselves. Zimmermann would have preferred a different evacuation plan from the tour organizers for the Colombier. “That we drive down on another side and that’s where the buses are,” he suggested. “That was the most uncomfortable part of the day, going down there today.”
That’s how it works at the moment
On Wednesday, sprinter Jordi Meeus from the German team Bora-hansgrohe almost got involved in a fall. A fan had held his arm over the barrier. Belgian cyclist Steff Cras blamed a fan for his retirement from the Tour after falling on stage eight. A day later, Zimmermann colleague Lilian Calmajane fell. The Frenchman got tangled in a clothesline hanging in front of a camper van on the side of the road.
“We are glad that we have the viewers,” said Nikias Arndt of the German Press Agency, but he also noted: “But the viewers must also be aware of their responsibility. Many have their backs and cell phones to us, take selfies and stand half a meter further on the road than the others. We arrive at 60, 70 kilometers per hour, so it’s difficult to avoid it.”
Always stuff for stories
On the one hand, the tour thrives on being close to the fans, on the other hand, there have been dangerous situations. In 2021 there was a serious fall when the German Tony Martin crashed into a spectator’s cardboard sign held on the street. A year later, driver Daniel Oss had to retire from the Tour of France due to a fractured neck after hitting an unwary fan with his head.