It might be the most careless selfie in sports history. A fan trying to take a picture during the 15th stage of the Tour de France inadvertently made contact with a competitor and caused a massive crash on Sunday.
A video caught a fan in a white hat trying to take a selfie with an arm extended in the pathway of riders, and the spectator clipped American Sepp Kuss’s handlebars while passing. Kuss crashed, and he brought down myriad other riders with him, leading to a massive pileup of riders, including teammate Nathan van Hooydonck of Belgium.
About 20 riders crashed, and Dutch cyclist Wout Poels subsequently won the stage to capture the first stage win of his career.
Tour de France spectator causes a huge crash in the peloton!#TDF2023 📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/USu6eUO0o1
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 16, 2023
“There was a narrowing in the town and a spectator in the road, and I guess he just clipped my handlebars,” Kuss said of the incident, according to the BBC. “Luckily I’m O.K., and hopefully the other guys in the crash are all right. It’s not ideal.
“I think it’s fatigue,” he continued. “It’s been such a hard race, and everybody is a bit tired. You lose a bit of alertness and there’s always things out of your control as well.”
Sunday’s crash occurred about 50 kilometers into the 179-kilometer stage from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc.
The crash was the worst at the Tour de France since an infamous incident in 2021, when a woman holding a sign clipped a rider, leading to a massive crash. Two riders had to withdraw from the event, and eight were injured. She turned herself in and was forced to pay a fine after going to court.
