Fan causes huge crash at Tour de France 2023 that sends riders ‘down like skittles’ on Stage 15

Stage 15 of the Tour de France saw a huge crash on Sunday for the second time in the weekend.

The incident happened towards, but not right at, the front of the bunch, as a fan appeared to clip a Jumbo-Visma rider.

The rider – reportedly – Sepp Kuss, then careered across the road, and, in doing so, collided with other riders in the peloton, causing a huge pile-up.

“Oh, no,” said Dan Lloyd, as Carlton Kirby exclaimed, “Oh, massive.”

Originally, Sean Kelly, alongside Kirby and Lloyd on commentary, thought it may have been a touch of wheels. However, a replay revealed that Kuss, was clipped by an over-zealous fan.

“Keep your eye on the right-hand side of the bunch,” said Lloyd. “I wonder whether one of the riders might have got snagged.

As the replay continued, Lloyd would add further context.

“Someone taking a selfie on the side of the road. And it was one of the Jumbo riders who was clipped by them, enough that he lost control.

Kirby and Kelly gave further detail.

“An arm came out and clipped a shoulder, and down we all came like skittles,” said Kirby, before Kelly took it up:

“Somebody just had their hand out when the riders were really close to the spectators and they just touched. And at that speed if they just touch your handlebar then down you go and we can see the consequences at that speed, taking out a pack of riders.”

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