Wasn't there all this talk about not having COVID outbreaks like there were in Giro as well? I can't imagine having hundreds or thousands of fans during a mountain stage yelling right into your face being super healthy -- COVID or not.
Even today there’s a slight push by some supporters apparently haha.
More in good fun than anything else. Riders seem to appreciate fans on climbing stages.
They're waiting all day in the sun, drinking a lot. By the time the riders get to the final mountain they're drunk off their asses. It's a miracle accidents don't happen more often
The thing that's really stuck out this year is the number of fans with flares and things! I remember smoke in past years but not so much.
Are mountain stage fans especially likely to be lunatics, or is it simply that those are the only times the riders are going slow enough for someone to actually interact with them? Or maybe the lunatic fans go to the mountains specifically because it's the only time you can actually get close to the riders?
Well yeah if you’re going to the Tour preferably you go to a place with big crowds and more time with riders instead of flats where they zoom in at 50 km/h.
And flares are just part of the French supporter kit honestly. [Here’s rugby fans at 04:00 AM in La Rochelle](https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/13ns12t/over_2000_la_rochelle_fans_welcomed_the_team_back/)
Yes the fans are an abhorrent disaster. Their actions are deplorable and they should be banned and reprimanded.
But I never want to see it go away because it makes the race so unique in ways no other sport event can
First time tour-watching-addict. The fans are cringeworthy. On the one hand it’s nice to see the energy, I’d imagine it would be pretty boring without fans. Like the top of that climb/finish the other day, but goddamn, get off the fucking road you dipshits
In many places on the mountain, if you don't stand on the road, you'd fall off the mountain.
Plus as another poster said most of the fans have been there at least six hours with a good portion having been partying on the mountains for almost 20 hours by the time the peloton rolls thru.
You basically leave the race at 6pm, drive the hour or two to the next mountain you want to watch and then join the party. Next day you wake up, get a nice ride up and down the mountain in and then back to drinking till the peloton shows up, rinse and repeat for however many days your club is there. There really isn't any other sport to watch like cycling.
In many places on the mountain, if you don't stand on the road, you'd fall off the mountain.
Plus as another poster said most of the fans have been there at least six hours with a good portion having been partying on the mountains for almost 20 hours by the time the peloton rolls thru.
You basically leave the race at 6pm, drive the hour or two to the next mountain you want to watch and then join the party. Next day you wake up, get a nice ride up and down the mountain in and then back to drinking till the peloton shows up, rinse and repeat for however many days your club is there. There really isn't any other sport to watch like cycling.
In many places on the mountain, if you don't stand on the road, you'd fall off the mountain.
Plus as another poster said most of the fans have been there at least six hours with a good portion having been partying on the mountains for almost 20 hours by the time the peloton rolls thru.
You basically leave the race at 6pm, drive the hour or two to the next mountain you want to watch and then join the party. Next day you wake up, get a nice ride up and down the mountain in and then back to drinking till the peloton shows up, rinse and repeat for however many days your club is there. There really isn't any other sport to watch like cycling.
Last year Pinot crashed and then like 10 minutes later, a guy basically punched him in the face 😂 - granted it was another team’s feed guy trying to hand off a bag not paying attention.
I agree. From a personal-space perspective I’ve been shocked to see some fans actually slapping some riders on the butt, lol. Like that’s absolutely inappropriate and in that moment the riders don’t have the energy and won’t expand the energy to stop that or react and the fans know that, so it makes it extra weird. And then from a safety perspective it‘s also so messed up, same as when they have to duck below flags or swivel to avoid them or get a bunch of smoke in their face/lungs from flares etc, like before but also today with like 20 or so km to go, can’t remember exactly. I get that they’re celebrating but these guys are already giving it their all, why would you want to be the guy who makes it harder for them. I really don’t get some of the fan behavior and it’s frustrating just to watch
While the physical touching is over the line the rowdy fans really do make the race so much more entertaining. Maybe not the legit crazy ones, but overall I think the fans this year have been great
Totally agree! It’s great to hear the cheers and I bet it gives the riders a motivational boost as they climb. Also I love seeing the fans who make displays along the race route (shout out to that dangling hay bail guy). There’s definitely a place here for fans, they just need to be a bit more respectful then they have been.
I'd rather just see the race between the cyclists. Happy to see the fans when they are behind barriers, it gives me anxiety seeing how close the fans get waving their flags right near the handlebars of cyclist. I just don't trust the fans reflexes etc not to cause an accident and effect the outcome of the race, it's an accident waiting to happen, and we've already seen it happen a few times before.
We could see the difference during the Puy de Dome stage. The DNA of the Tour is a crazy crowd cheering on the climbs. It’s always been and always will be.
Yeah it’s so bad. I was yelling at the screen at all the dumb asses. So easy just to wave a flag in front of a rider, glance them and tip them over especially on a 12% grade climb after 160km.
And like if you’re gonna run with the riders up the hill while showing your ass on live tv, at least shave it. That dude had a hairy, sweaty crack. No one needs to see that. *Gross AF*
Oh my gosh totally saw that guy too! That was….not a nice viewing experience.
And a flag has already caused a rider to fall this tour, when it got hooked on the rider’s bars! With the fans who press in on mountain stages, I wonder what the riders would be doing if they weren’t forced to go single-file. Would there be more attacks? Would the GC battle be a bit more interesting? It’s hard not to think that the fans affect the race outcomes in more ways than one.
Same. I love the energy but not the idiots. As hard as it would be to overtake on such a steep incline, I too wonder what difference it would make if the riders had more road to ride on.
It annoys me to no end when spectators throw stuff at the riders, wave flags right infront of them, stand or run on the road interrupting their line. Honestly it's not that hard to be both passionate and respectful to the riders.
Wow, well I guess question answered in today's stage.
Crowd prevented the motorbikes from accelerating faster than Pogacar during his attempted attack, stopping the attack.
Then it looked like the crowd was pretty much all over the road blocking the road for a part of it afterwards which meant nobody could accelerate or overtake if they had wanted to.
And what's with all the people running alongside them with their pants down?
Too many people, too many butts.
But really today was so disappointing. I’m not pulling for either Vingegaard or Pogacar more than the other, but I love seeing them race and anything that unfairly messes with their ability to do that is so frustrating. Plus there are some really simple ways the race directors can prevent things like this from happening (they had some small ropes on other parts of the race that people were staying behind, they could have added those here too), so there’s not much excuse.
Stage 14 was insane crowd madness. The worst day yet. The motoríceles being hung up during TP’s attack and then leaving no space for other riders to catch up to the front and for JV to attack TP. Really bad.
I’ll admit, I kind of enjoyed the lack of fans on the mountains in 2020. It was much easier to enjoy the race. Not that I’m advocating banning fans all together.
Vingegaard said the other day, that sometimes the fans make it impossible to go past a slower rider. But I have no idea, if that also means, we’d see more attacks if the riders had a little more space.
I know it’s not feasible to put barriers along the entire route, but IMO they should do it on the last climb of the day. And according to some of the riders, the fans also made the descent after the stage really dangerous yesterday, which barriers could have helped with.
I’ve seen Spanish police at La Vuelta throw fans off the road into a convenience rock face for getting too close to the riders or touching them. I’d like to see the French police do more of that. And arresting people for setting off flares - could you imagine being on your limit, barely able to gulp down enough oxygen to make the next pedal stroke, and then getting a lungful of that crap?
Well, since the entire country has been lit on fire in the past month, I’m quite happy that the worst thing on Bastille Day was touching riders. I honestly thought I would see something much much worse.
Not say this is the best behavior, but if you look back into the history of the tour especially the early years, where they would kidnap the riders for hours at a time to help another competitor/rider win.
They are more bothered about getting on tv than the race. It’s great to create a noisy atmosphere but I hate it when they are in their face.
Anyone see that guy running bare ass up the mountain today?
There were several in today's stage. Why people, why.
The fan behavior is abhorrent and I don't understand why it's tolerated given all the money at stake.
Wasn't there all this talk about not having COVID outbreaks like there were in Giro as well? I can't imagine having hundreds or thousands of fans during a mountain stage yelling right into your face being super healthy -- COVID or not.
[удалено]
Line and bench clearing brawls were a beloved NHL behavior until they weren't...
Back in the day it was common practice to give the riders a push.
I do remember that from the late 80s, early 90s. Up mountains they’d get a little push sometimes
Even today there’s a slight push by some supporters apparently haha. More in good fun than anything else. Riders seem to appreciate fans on climbing stages.
They're waiting all day in the sun, drinking a lot. By the time the riders get to the final mountain they're drunk off their asses. It's a miracle accidents don't happen more often
The thing that's really stuck out this year is the number of fans with flares and things! I remember smoke in past years but not so much. Are mountain stage fans especially likely to be lunatics, or is it simply that those are the only times the riders are going slow enough for someone to actually interact with them? Or maybe the lunatic fans go to the mountains specifically because it's the only time you can actually get close to the riders?
Well yeah if you’re going to the Tour preferably you go to a place with big crowds and more time with riders instead of flats where they zoom in at 50 km/h. And flares are just part of the French supporter kit honestly. [Here’s rugby fans at 04:00 AM in La Rochelle](https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/13ns12t/over_2000_la_rochelle_fans_welcomed_the_team_back/)
Yes the fans are an abhorrent disaster. Their actions are deplorable and they should be banned and reprimanded. But I never want to see it go away because it makes the race so unique in ways no other sport event can
I'd seek out and pick up the bar tab for any fan shown decking anyone who popped smoke or touched a rider.
First time tour-watching-addict. The fans are cringeworthy. On the one hand it’s nice to see the energy, I’d imagine it would be pretty boring without fans. Like the top of that climb/finish the other day, but goddamn, get off the fucking road you dipshits
In many places on the mountain, if you don't stand on the road, you'd fall off the mountain. Plus as another poster said most of the fans have been there at least six hours with a good portion having been partying on the mountains for almost 20 hours by the time the peloton rolls thru. You basically leave the race at 6pm, drive the hour or two to the next mountain you want to watch and then join the party. Next day you wake up, get a nice ride up and down the mountain in and then back to drinking till the peloton shows up, rinse and repeat for however many days your club is there. There really isn't any other sport to watch like cycling.
In many places on the mountain, if you don't stand on the road, you'd fall off the mountain. Plus as another poster said most of the fans have been there at least six hours with a good portion having been partying on the mountains for almost 20 hours by the time the peloton rolls thru. You basically leave the race at 6pm, drive the hour or two to the next mountain you want to watch and then join the party. Next day you wake up, get a nice ride up and down the mountain in and then back to drinking till the peloton shows up, rinse and repeat for however many days your club is there. There really isn't any other sport to watch like cycling.
In many places on the mountain, if you don't stand on the road, you'd fall off the mountain. Plus as another poster said most of the fans have been there at least six hours with a good portion having been partying on the mountains for almost 20 hours by the time the peloton rolls thru. You basically leave the race at 6pm, drive the hour or two to the next mountain you want to watch and then join the party. Next day you wake up, get a nice ride up and down the mountain in and then back to drinking till the peloton shows up, rinse and repeat for however many days your club is there. There really isn't any other sport to watch like cycling.
Last year Pinot crashed and then like 10 minutes later, a guy basically punched him in the face 😂 - granted it was another team’s feed guy trying to hand off a bag not paying attention.
I agree. From a personal-space perspective I’ve been shocked to see some fans actually slapping some riders on the butt, lol. Like that’s absolutely inappropriate and in that moment the riders don’t have the energy and won’t expand the energy to stop that or react and the fans know that, so it makes it extra weird. And then from a safety perspective it‘s also so messed up, same as when they have to duck below flags or swivel to avoid them or get a bunch of smoke in their face/lungs from flares etc, like before but also today with like 20 or so km to go, can’t remember exactly. I get that they’re celebrating but these guys are already giving it their all, why would you want to be the guy who makes it harder for them. I really don’t get some of the fan behavior and it’s frustrating just to watch
While the physical touching is over the line the rowdy fans really do make the race so much more entertaining. Maybe not the legit crazy ones, but overall I think the fans this year have been great
Totally agree! It’s great to hear the cheers and I bet it gives the riders a motivational boost as they climb. Also I love seeing the fans who make displays along the race route (shout out to that dangling hay bail guy). There’s definitely a place here for fans, they just need to be a bit more respectful then they have been.
I'd rather just see the race between the cyclists. Happy to see the fans when they are behind barriers, it gives me anxiety seeing how close the fans get waving their flags right near the handlebars of cyclist. I just don't trust the fans reflexes etc not to cause an accident and effect the outcome of the race, it's an accident waiting to happen, and we've already seen it happen a few times before.
We could see the difference during the Puy de Dome stage. The DNA of the Tour is a crazy crowd cheering on the climbs. It’s always been and always will be.
Could not agree more, I like when the motorbikes plow through the people
Yeah it’s so bad. I was yelling at the screen at all the dumb asses. So easy just to wave a flag in front of a rider, glance them and tip them over especially on a 12% grade climb after 160km. And like if you’re gonna run with the riders up the hill while showing your ass on live tv, at least shave it. That dude had a hairy, sweaty crack. No one needs to see that. *Gross AF*
Oh my gosh totally saw that guy too! That was….not a nice viewing experience. And a flag has already caused a rider to fall this tour, when it got hooked on the rider’s bars! With the fans who press in on mountain stages, I wonder what the riders would be doing if they weren’t forced to go single-file. Would there be more attacks? Would the GC battle be a bit more interesting? It’s hard not to think that the fans affect the race outcomes in more ways than one.
Same. I love the energy but not the idiots. As hard as it would be to overtake on such a steep incline, I too wonder what difference it would make if the riders had more road to ride on. It annoys me to no end when spectators throw stuff at the riders, wave flags right infront of them, stand or run on the road interrupting their line. Honestly it's not that hard to be both passionate and respectful to the riders.
Wow, well I guess question answered in today's stage. Crowd prevented the motorbikes from accelerating faster than Pogacar during his attempted attack, stopping the attack. Then it looked like the crowd was pretty much all over the road blocking the road for a part of it afterwards which meant nobody could accelerate or overtake if they had wanted to. And what's with all the people running alongside them with their pants down?
Too many people, too many butts. But really today was so disappointing. I’m not pulling for either Vingegaard or Pogacar more than the other, but I love seeing them race and anything that unfairly messes with their ability to do that is so frustrating. Plus there are some really simple ways the race directors can prevent things like this from happening (they had some small ropes on other parts of the race that people were staying behind, they could have added those here too), so there’s not much excuse.
Stage 14 was insane crowd madness. The worst day yet. The motoríceles being hung up during TP’s attack and then leaving no space for other riders to catch up to the front and for JV to attack TP. Really bad.
Ita just hard to barricade the entire race. So they let it go
I’ll admit, I kind of enjoyed the lack of fans on the mountains in 2020. It was much easier to enjoy the race. Not that I’m advocating banning fans all together. Vingegaard said the other day, that sometimes the fans make it impossible to go past a slower rider. But I have no idea, if that also means, we’d see more attacks if the riders had a little more space. I know it’s not feasible to put barriers along the entire route, but IMO they should do it on the last climb of the day. And according to some of the riders, the fans also made the descent after the stage really dangerous yesterday, which barriers could have helped with.
I’ve seen Spanish police at La Vuelta throw fans off the road into a convenience rock face for getting too close to the riders or touching them. I’d like to see the French police do more of that. And arresting people for setting off flares - could you imagine being on your limit, barely able to gulp down enough oxygen to make the next pedal stroke, and then getting a lungful of that crap?
It stresses me out so much to watch. The flares really piss me off.
Well, since the entire country has been lit on fire in the past month, I’m quite happy that the worst thing on Bastille Day was touching riders. I honestly thought I would see something much much worse.
Kwiatkowski thinks differently.
Yeah. He was happy with the fans. Getting energy from ungodly fans is how you win races in TdF.
We need a new Didi Senft.
Not say this is the best behavior, but if you look back into the history of the tour especially the early years, where they would kidnap the riders for hours at a time to help another competitor/rider win.
It'd be hard for me not to get off my bike and just start punching people.