In the first stage of the Tour de France, a woman with a sign caused a huge crash in the peloton. The lady kept looking at the passing camera instead of the pack, knocking Tony Martin down in the front rows of the pack. Wout van Aert was just able to avoid the danger.
The lady in question had a message on the board for her grandparents, but the action cost the peloton a lot of suffering. After all, the crash caused chaos in the peloton, with Julian Alaphilippe, Peter Sagan and Sonny Colbrelli among others remaining behind. GC riders Jack Haig, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Marc Soler also had to chase.
Sprinter Caleb Ewan was in Van Aert’s group that had fallen behind, but also had to let go with a grimace. The same was true of Sagan, who suddenly appeared all alone on the Breton roads. Van Aert then had to chase again on his own, but still quickly joined the tail of the peloton.
Shortly after the crash, Deceuninck-Quick Step continued at the front of the pack, but that action was soon halted when it became apparent how extensive the damage was from the crash. Jasha Sütterin (Team DSM) even had to leave the race due to the consequences of the crash and thus became the first quitter.
With seven kilometers to go, it went wrong again at the front of the crowd. The biggest victim was Chris Froome. The four-time overall winner stood for a long time surrounded by a few teammates, but eventually continued on.
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