Soudal Quick-Step rider Jan Hirt has suffered broken front teeth in an incident with fans ahead of the first stage of the Tour de France.
The 33-year-old collided with a spectator's bag as he went to sign on before the race in Florence, according to his team manager Patrick Lefevere. Hirt was cleared to start the stage and will be monitored by his team’s medical staff throughout the day.
Lefevere first revealed the incident on X, writing: “There [are] 100 rules for the team but one with backpack made crashing Jan Hirt between the signings and the bus. 3 teeth broken.”
A Soudal Quick-Step source confirmed the injury to Cycling Weekly, and said the race start was “badly organised”. The team has not released an official statement.
There 100 rules for the team but one with backpack made crashing jan Hirt between the signings and the bus. 😡😡😡. 3 teeth broken pic.twitter.com/gth0T4AqDHJune 29, 2024
At the start of the day, metal barriers were constructed around the team paddock, which was initially controlled by security at its entrance. Fans in Florence were quickly able to circumvent the measures, however, lifting the metal barriers or jumping over them to gain access to the team buses.
At the mixed zone, an area dedicated to press interviews, journalists struggled to reach the riders, as spectators walked through the restricted area. Some members of the media reported the crowds, but were told by security that there was nothing that could be done.
Cycling Weekly was present in the team paddock, and noticed crowds up to four people deep surrounding certain buses, particularly Visma-Lease a Bike, the team of defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, and world champion Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck.
A video published on the Cyclingnews Instagram page showed another Soudal Quick-Step rider colliding with a person while trying to cycle between the bus and the sign-on podium.
Hirt has come to the Tour de France to support his Soudal Quick-Step leader Remco Evenepoel, who is targeting the yellow jersey on his race debut.
The Czech rider was given leadership duties himself at the Giro d’Italia earlier this year, where he finished 8th, 18 minutes and five seconds behind the winner, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
The Tour de France started today with a hilly stage between Florence and Rimini.
Hirt lined up for the stage as planned, despite having broken teeth. He was pictured riding behind the peloton in the opening hour.
