Jumbo-Visma director slams Tour de France after spectator caused massive crash

The Jumbo-Visma cycling team director, Merijn Zeeman, criticized the organizers of Tour de France after a spectator caused a massive crash during the opening stage of the race. Almost all cyclists of the Dutch team were involved in the accident which took out nearly the entire peloton.

"This can happen in such a big race. There are teams at the start that have put in months of effort to do well here. But there are still very amateurish things happening in cycling that just can’t be explained," Zeeman told the broadcaster NOS. He described Saturday’s event as "absurd".

The incident happened about 46 kilometers before the finish line. Jumbo-Visma’s Tony Martin collided with a sign a spectator was holding which extended over part of the road. The spectator was looking at a camera, but not at the oncoming cyclists.

After Martin struck the sign, he crashed to the ground. Dozens of participants followed in the chain reaction.

"This is the biggest race with the biggest organizer. It's not enough just to put up fences in the last few kilometers," said Zeeman. "It's nice that people come to watch. That also gives charm to this sport. But with such narrow roads and such a large audience, there must be rules," he argued.

Primoz Roglic, Wout Van Aert, Sepp Kuss and Mike Teunissen were also among those who crashed. Roglic eventually managed to finish third despite injuring his shoulder in a crash.