2024 is proving to be a weird season for supposed fans throwing odd objects at pro racers. That continued on Saturday’s 14th stage of the Tour de France. A fan threw a bag of chips at an attacking Tadej Pogacar on the Pla d’Adet.
Race cameras caught the incident on the live feed. A fan wearing only shorts and a bucket cap is standing near the middle of the road. Not only does he not move for the race leader and yellow jersey wearer, he also shoves a bag of chips Pogacar’s face as he rockets by.
Pogacar gives his head a shake and keeps moving, thankfully mostly unbothered by the fan’s stupid move.
The interference came at a decisive moment in the race. With less than 6km to go to the finish, Pogacar was on the attack. He’d dropped his GC rivals, including Visma Lease-a-Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard and would continue on to win the stage.
Vingegaard also mentioned in post-race interviews that a spectator had thrown chips at him and that some others were booing as he passed.
“I think that’s a bit strange to do,” Vingegaard said of the incident, adding a request that fans “Just stay on the road and cheer on everyone. You don’t need to boo anyone. I don’t understand why you would go to a race and boo anyone, just cheer on everyone.”
In case it somehow still needs saying, throwing anything at riders is not cool. Booing riders is not cool. None of this belongs in sports.
A weird year for fan interference
The heavy presence of fans, not always particularly sober, is always a point of debate at the Tour de France. With huge crowds pushing onto the road to catch a glimpse of their heroes, occasionally the fans get in the way. Intentionally or unintentionally, the can distract, contact or, in the worst cases, knock over riders when they’re not particularly respectful or attentive.
2024 sees that trend continue, though with some odd additions to the dumb fan repertoire. At Paris-Roubaix, a “fan” threw a hat at Mathieu van der Poel as he soloed away towards winning the Monument.
Then, before the Tour de France even started, Jan Hirt was taken out by a fan. The Soudal Quick-Step racer broke three teeth after being hit by the backpack but still, somehow, managed to start Stage 1.
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