The Tour de France spectator who threw chips at Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard on the climb to Pla d’Adet during stage 14 has reportedly been arrested for “aggravated violence” and is due to be questioned by police today.
As great crowds welcomed the top GC riders in Saturday’s final, the ‘fan’ soured the atmosphere as he threw the contents of his chip packet into the faces of the favourites. This led stage winner Pogačar to shake his head in the moments following and Vingegaard to question why someone would come to a bike race to do this speaking post-stage.
Le Parisien reported that the man was quickly taken into custody after he repeated his offence to Pogačar on Visma’s leader Vingegaard inside the final few kilometres of the climb. However, they could not question him yesterday evening as they waited for him to sober up.
“He was with a group of very nice friends, cycling fans, like us. We got to know each other well, talked about everything, cycling, Brittany and played shuffleboard. But he had a very drunken afternoon,” said an eyewitness to the French newspaper.
The eyewitness was as confused at the man in question’s behaviour as the riders and commentators alike, with EF Education-Easypost manager Jonathan Vaughters later questioning on Eurosport “Are you there to be a cycling fan, do you love the sport?”.
However, according to the witness, the offending spectator was quickly and thankfully taken away to prevent him from interfering with any of the other riders on the final climb.
“[A nearby police officer] pushed him off the road quite abruptly and a police car arrived behind the barriers to take him away less than five minutes later,” said the eyewitness, with friends of the offender equally as confused.
"The gesture did not seem premeditated. After the riders had passed, his friends were surprised. They were clearly not at their first Tour but it was the first time he had done something stupid like that."
Adam Hansen, president of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), the rider's union, announced on X (formerly twitter), that “the CPA will take legal action against this guy with pleasure due to what he did to both Pogacar and Vingegaard. This is disrespectful and will not be tolerated.”
Hansen later thanked French police for their quick response having seen that the spectator had been arrested.
"We have information that the Gendarmerie have already found and arrested the man who did this act and spent the last night in jail," said Hansen on social media. "We thank the Gendarmerie for their fast great work, and this is a sign not to do this to the cyclist. Please be responsible and respect the riders."
We have information that the Gendarmerie have already found and arrested the man who did this act and spent the last night in jail. We thank the Gendarmerie for their fast great work, and this is a sign not to do this to the cyclist. Please be responsible and respect the riders. https://t.co/n9zqBwgbWsJuly 14, 2024
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