Crashes are sadly commonplace on the Tour de France however the first of the 2024 version got here even earlier than the beginning of the opening stage in Florence, as Jan Hirt (Soudal Quick-Step) hit the deck and broke his tooth after getting caught on a spectator’s bag.
Organisers reportedly misplaced management on the Grand Départ in Tuscany, the place spectators bypassed obstacles and located their manner into the crew space. The commotion induced riders to must half large crowds en route from sign-on again to their crew buses, the place Hirt caught his handlebars on the bag of a fan and fell onto his face.
The information was first reported by HLN, who said that the Czech climber had burst his lip and that crew docs had been instantly there to deal with him and search for a part of his damaged tooth. This was confirmed by crew boss Patrick Lefevere on X formerly Twitter, with a picture of Hirt.
“There are 100 guidelines for the crew however one [spectator] with a backpack made crashing Jan Hirt between the signings and the bus. 3 tooth damaged,” he mentioned.
Hirt is without doubt one of the key climbing domestiques supporting debutant star Remco Evenepoel alongside the likes of Mikel Landa. He took the beginning however was rapidly struggling off the again – hopefully, his accidents will not get any worse.
It’s honest to say that each Soudal Quick-Step and Hirt’s teammates weren’t pleased with the incident.
“It is full chaos. The group has no management over it in any respect. People are operating in every single place,” mentioned Yves Lampaert to VTM Nieuws. “Jan went excessive. We riders get fines galore for small issues, the group ought to have a look within the mirror. It is unacceptable.”
