In a rare, almost unprecedented first at the Tour de France, the bar at the summit of the race’s first mountain finish counted empty seats. Beers in hand, around 20 punters dashed to the edge of the terrace to watch Tadej Pogačar win the stage. Perhaps only a few hundred more had made the hike up to the ski resort, on a day the fans were told to stay at home.
The announcement came less than 24 hours before the stage start. On Sunday evening, Tour organisers ASO urged people not to go to the finish of stage three, due to wildfires tearing through the Pyrénées-Orientales region. The town of Les Angles had prepared to welcome 25,000 people. On its first time hosting the Tour, maybe only a quarter of that number turned up.
