A thrilling Stage 12 had a sad coda. Vincenzo Nibali took a bad spill after an incident with fans in the midst of flares and large crowds with 3.8 kilometers left on his ascent of Alpe d’Huez. He was able to finish the stage, coming in seventh just 13 seconds behind winner Geraint Thomas. Still, Nibali reportedly had to be transported to a hospital after the stage due to a suspected vertebrae fracture.
Nibali’s racing team, Bahrain-Merida, has since confirmed the worst: The 2014 Tour winner will be abandoning the race.
What exactly happened to cause the accident is unclear. What we do know is that 1) Nibali said he hit a moto, not a fan, but 2) the crowds on Alpe d’Huez were wild, and when the accident occurred Nibali was riding through flare smoke and a tunnel of human bodies.
Haurem d'esperar a veure el video d'algun aficionat per veure què ha passat amb Nibali. La moto que seguia el grup se l'ha trobat després d'un núvol provocat per una bengala. #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/oUQ3YgbTbc
— Javier Gilabert (@tourdegila) July 19, 2018
An account of the accident, according to Nibali:
“[Romain] Bardet was up the road after his attack, there were motos there, and they were squeezing in on the road, there was not space,” Nibali explained.
“There were two police motorbikes, I was following Froome, I was feeling good, then it slowed and I fell down.”
“The blow gave me big pain in my back, it blocked it.”
UPDATE: Nibali said that he collided with a motorbike, but another angle suggests that a fan was likely responsible for the crash:
Te prometí algo bueno de Alpe d'Huez profe @jhonjaimeosorio , acá tienes la razón de la pérdida de tiempo de vinci pic.twitter.com/wYUrI73Qkc
— Diego Alvarez (@diegoalvarez12) July 19, 2018
Nibali’s accident wasn’t the only incident on the slope. Earlier, a fan tried to knock four-time Tour winner Chris Froome off his bike.
#TDF2018 - One spectator tried to kick down Froome.
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 19, 2018
Bad security on the climb. pic.twitter.com/J1Hx02qyz2
Froome is one of the most disliked riders in the Tour thanks to his bizarre doping suspension/un-suspension during the week before the race. His and Nibali’s incidents highlight how vulnerable riders are on the road, and how dangerous riding a Tour de France can be.
Crowds have always been the bane of pro riders’ existence, particularly during the Tour de France, by far cycling’s biggest event. These incidents seem to occur every year. In 2016, Richie Porte crashed into a stopped motorbike up another climb, Mont Ventoux, causing a pile-up that included Froome, who broke his bike and began to run up the mountain. Going further back, Lance Armstrong was famously felled by a plastic bag that a spectator was holding out at handlebar height as he rode by.
In no other sport are fans allowed to get so close to the athletes, and for good reason: Strangers are dangerous. Yet cycling, for logistical reasons, can’t ever entirely do away with the crowds. This year’s Tour de France is nearly 2,100 miles long. That’s a lot of real estate to police.
There’s no question that the crowds are part of cycling’s appeal, too. Seeing Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk ride past a massive, rowdy contingent of his countrymen on Alpe d’Huez’s Dutch Corner while leading the stage was unbelievably cool.
But those moments should never come at the expense of riders’ safety. Nibali was riding well, and made an incredible effort — with a broken back as it turned out! — to get back near the front of the stage. He might well have beaten Thomas and made himself a contender to win the overall yellow jersey if not for the accident.
Froome, meanwhile, shouldn’t be subject to some idiot’s vision of vigilante justice. His salbutamol case was weird, and wonky, and stupid. There may be valid reasons to be upset that he is riding in this year’s Tour. There is no good fucking reason to go anywhere near him while he is climbing a mountain on shot legs that have been pumping for more than 120 miles unless you’re a coward.
Crowds are always going to be a necessary evil in cycling, but an otherwise stellar Stage 12 was so much scarier than it had to be. Dear god, please don’t let anything worse happen these last 10 days.