This is the history of the Tour de France. Generous one day, cruel the next. La Grande Boucle is a cult event in July for millions of roadside spectators and viewers. Punctuated by sporting achievements, it is also punctuated by spectacular falls that have become famous. A non-exhaustive overview of the falls that have marked the history of the Tour.
Caused by rain, stress, speed, unconscious spectators, falls have been part of the history of the Grande Boucle since its creation.
Painful moments for runners who often have to leave injured when others are forced to give up. The Grande Boucle also took his life, as was the case with Fabio Casartelli in the Pyrenees during the 1995 Tour edition.
June 28, 2021: cascading falls
This Monday, June 28, again, the third stage of the Tour de France was marked by several collective falls. They were catastrophic for Australian Jack Haig, leader of the Bahrain team, who was forced to forfeit.
Marc Madiot, general manager of the Groupama-FDJ training, has also given a huge rant and alert on the dangers of the race.
The last, spectacular, which occurred within 150 m of the sprint finish in Pontivy at around 70 km / h, resulted in a chaotic final. There too, Australian Caleb Ewan, who dragged Slovakian Peter Sagan to the ground just out of the last corner, was also forced to retire.
June 26: a spectator brings down the peloton with her sign
His unconsciousness will not go unpunished. The Tour de France announced, Saturday, June 26, to file a complaint against the spectator at the origin of the big fall which occurred 43 kilometers from the arrival of the first stage in Landerneau, in Finistère.
ud83d ude14 Chaos 43 km from the finish. A spectator caused Martin to fall and caused a domino effect, sending the majority of the peloton to the asphalt. Most of the favorites in the stage and in the final victory have fallen.#TDF2021 #TourdeFrance2021 pic.twitter.com/H4RIWd3R4i
– Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) June 26, 2021
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Tony Martin, German rider of the Jumbo team, placed in the first rows of the peloton, struck the sign of a spectator encroaching on the roadway. In his fall, he involved dozens of runners, on the narrow road and the side aisles.
2011: Flecha hit by a car, Hoogerland ends up in barbed wire
A car with the France Télévisions logo collided with Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha and Dutchman Johnny Hoogerland while trying to overtake the group on the South Cantal country road.
Hoogerland managed to finish the Saint-Flour stage with bloody knees and legs after being thrown into barbed wire. And step onto the podium as the new wearer of the best climber’s polka dot jersey.
At the time of the accident, the Dutchman was leading the race, some 37 kilometers from the finish.
2005: Zabriskie’s Broken Dream
Yellow jersey since his victory in the inaugural time trial in Noirmoutier, the American David Zabriskie was on a cloud. Unhappy victim of a fall less than two kilometers from the finish line of the team time trial, the runner from Salt Lake City saw his dream fly away.
2003: multiple fractures for Joseba Beloki
Elbow to elbow with Lance Armstrong in the descent of La Rochette, the Spaniard Joseba Beloki slips, falls and breaks his wrist, elbow and hip. For his part, the American gets away with cutting across the field.
1999: Guerini down because of a supporter
It is July 14, 1999: Giuseppe Guerini, escaped in the 10th stage of the Tour de France, rushes towards a prestigious victory at the top of Alpe d’Huez, when an imprudent supporter, busy taking a photo in the middle of the road, brings down the Italian 1 kilometer from the finish. The dream collapses for Guérini, we think, but the rider sets off again and finally wins the stage.
1995: Fabio Casartelli falls to his death
The 1995 Tour is mourned by the fatal fall (1’50 on the video) of the Italian Fabio Casartelli. The latter falls on the descent of the Portet-d’Aspet pass during the 15th stage. Please note, some images can be shocking.
1994: Jalabert falls in the middle of a sprint
On July 3, 1994, on the first stage of the Tour de France, neither the name of the winner nor the weather in Armentières (North) will be remembered that day. But the image of a Laurent Jalabert sitting on the asphalt, covered in blood and saggy jaw.
That day, a few hundred meters from the finish line, and after a smooth stage, the sprint started. A peloton launched at more than 60 km / h, a small curve preventing the visibility of the runners, a young policeman who tries to take a picture for a spectator… The drama is inevitable.
1971: the fall of Ocana and the gesture of Eddy Merckx
On July 12, 1971, the Tour de France switched in favor of the Belgian Eddy Merckx after the fall of the Spaniard Luis Ocaña in the descent of the Col de Mente.
Ocana, wearing the jersey for three days, loses it during this Pyrenean stage. Indeed, on July 12 in the stage linking Revel to Luchon (passing through the Portet d’Aspet, Menté and Portillon passes), when a real deluge fell on the peloton, in the descent of the Col de Menté, it is the fall.
He gets up but gets hit by other runners. All will leave except one: Luis Ocana severely injured. He was evacuated in serious condition. The next day, Eddy Merckx, who had thus inherited the yellow jersey, decided not to wear it as a tribute to his rival.
1960: end of career for the French Roger Rivière in Millau
That summer, the Tour de France stopped off in Aveyron. The departure from Millau on July 10 is a legendary stage. The French champion Roger Rivière fell there in the Col du Perjuret.
The stage crosses the south of the Massif Central to reach Avignon. In the descent of the Col du Perjuret, the Italian Nencini runs curved on his bike. Not wanting to leave any advance to his opponent, the Frenchman undertakes to pursue him.
But due to excessive speed, he loses control of his bike (2’50 on the video), hits one of the blocks bordering the road, and dives 25 m below, at the bottom of a ravine, where he lands on a carpet of branches which saves his life, but will definitely handicap him.
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