A drunk spectator who threw chips at him Tour de France Rivals Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard have been released from jail but will still face action from the cycling union, according to its president Adam Hansen.
The 32-year-old, who was naked and holding a Brittany flag, was arrested for “aggravated violence while intoxicated” after throwing crisps at the Tour’s top two riders about 2km from the finish of stage 14 in Pla d’Adet on Saturday. He was arrested by police shortly afterwards and taken away in a police car.
“He was with a group of very nice friends, cycling enthusiasts like us,” a man named Alexis, who was standing near the suspect on the road, told Le Parisien. “We got to know each other well, we talked about everything, cycling, Brittany and played shuffleboard. But he spent an afternoon very drunk.”
Hansen, president of the Professional Cyclists’ Association (CPA), said on X after Saturday’s stage that the CPA would “gladly” take legal action against the spectator who threw the chips.
Although the man was released from jail on Sunday, with no charges brought, Hansen told Telegraph Sport that the CPA still planned to take steps “for sure” to act as a deterrent to others.
The CPA has already taken similar measures in the past, notably after Tony Martin was run over by a spectator holding a sign reading “Allez Omi-Opi” in front of the cameras at the 2021 race, triggering a chain reaction that claimed the lives of a large group of riders. The CPA asked for one euro in compensation on that occasion.
“We will definitely take legal action,” Hansen told Telegraph Sport on Sunday. “We want to show that even if the police don’t catch people, we will take legal action.”
Pogacar puts on an extraordinary display
On Sunday, a spectator who was racing alongside Pogacar and Vingegaard on the final climb lost a flip-flop that flew past Pogacar’s wheel.
This did not discourage the Slovenian, who, having… He won Saturday’s stage by 39 seconds He put in an extraordinary display of climbing on Sunday, pulling away from Vingegaard on the final ascent to Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenees.
Vingegaard’s Visama Lease-a-Bike team had tried to make the race more difficult in order to try and overtake Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) but the Slovenian was too strong and waited until 5.3km into the final climb to make his move and then sprinted away to win by more than a minute. The climb was so fast that several of the sprinters were in danger of not making the time limit, including Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who came in two minutes clear.
Pogacar now leads the general classification by 3 minutes and 9 seconds over Vingegaard, with Evenepoel 5 minutes and 19 seconds behind. No other rider is within 10 minutes of the yellow jersey.
The peloton will now enjoy a second day of rest on Monday before the final week culminating in a time trial from Monaco to Nice on Sunday. The race will not finish in Paris this year due to the Olympic Games.
Pogacar admitted he was now in control of the race. “I would never have imagined this kind of result at the end of the second week,” said the two-time winner at the end. “It was a very tough day. I usually suffer in the heat, but the team did a great job keeping me cool. Yeah, an amazing day.
Asked about Visma’s efforts to make the race difficult, he added: “They decided to control today and set a hard pace on the climbs, but I was never worried. I stayed fresh, hydrated and eating enough, so when we got to the end of the last climb, I was close to my limit when Jonas tried to drop me, but I could see that he was at his limit as well.
“When he tried last time, I saw that he was having problems, so I attacked. Now it seems that we have a very good and comfortable lead.”
