The start of the first alpine stage of the Tour de France was marked, this Saturday, by a strong collective fall after only five kilometers into the race, which led to the abandonment of the South African Louis Meintjes and the Spanish Antonio Pedrero, in addition to the neutralization of the race for several minutes.
Tour de France: the course to été arrêtée après a massive shootout in the peloton that few kilometers after the départ of the 14th étape à Annemasse #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/BaZm5bwj2a
— Infos Françaises (@InfosFrancaises) July 15, 2023
In a curve shortly after the exit, several dozen cyclists crashed on a wet roadincluding South African Louis Meintjes (Intermarché), 13th overall, being evacuated by ambulance with suspected clavicle fracture.
The Spanish Antonio Pedrero (Movistar) also left.
The Tour management neutralized the race for almost half an hour, the time to evacuate the injured cyclists. This fourteenth stage marks the entry of the Alps into the race and the beginning of a series of climbs in which the winner of the race can be decided, with two clear favourites, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard and the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.
