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To the majority of Tour de France riders, the prospect of being physically battered by hours of bouncing up and down on rough surfaces is bad enough, but a repeat of the overenthusiastic crowd behavior they experienced in the early stages in England would have them fearing for their safety.
An estimated million people witnessed the first stage from Leeds to Harrogate, and stages two and three weren’t far behind, which, while a stunning success for British organizers, created problems for riders and their support staff following in cars.
While there have been plenty of accidents caused by onlookers running alongside the riders over Le Tour’s 111-year history, the advent of mobile phone technology has created a hazard that could never have been envisaged.
The “selfie” involves the subject holding a phone or camera at arm’s length and capturing themselves in the foreground of a scene.
In the case of the Tour de France, it means turning one’s back to a pack of cyclists approaching at speed, often through a tunnel of humanity and struggling to maintain control.
As Britain’s Simon Yates, riding for Australia’s Orica GreenEDGE team, explained, “The crowd support in England was amazing. The only real complaint was people taking selfies in the middle of the bunch and having their back to the peloton.
“Everyone is out there having fun and a lot of people don’t realize we’re coming past at 37 mph and we use every inch of the roads.”
On Sunday’s second stage from York to Sheffield, there were a number of spills as cyclists touched while trying to navigate their way through massive crowds lining narrow, winding roads.
GreenEDGE No. 1 Simon Gerrans, who was taken down by England’s Mark Cavendish in a dramatic crash on the sprint to the finish at Harrogate the previous day, was one of three riders to fall on the climb known as Bubblehouses due to crowd congestion.
He was not badly injured, but required a change of bike before rejoining the race. Australian Richie Porte, the Team Sky No. 2, was another who went down but recovered.
It was estimated that up to 80,000 people lined a later climb, Holme Moss. An Olympic gold medalist, Welshman Geraint Jones, described the sound on day one as “like being in a disco for four hours.”
The incredible crowds — and spectacular countryside — of the first three stages were a far cry from the first time the Tour de France ventured to England, in 1974.
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Back then, the second stage was awarded to Plymouth, and local organizers, keen to show off the area’s newly opened Plympton Bypass, an 8-kilometer (5-mile) stretch of the A64 motorway, had the cyclists ride it up and back 10 times.
Former pro cyclist Barry Hoban, a veteran of 12 tours, described it as “the most boring Stage I ever rode.”
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The estimated 10,000 spectators, unable to line the route, stood at each end of the bypass. There were no reported accidents. Or selfies.
This story originally appeared on News.com.au.