The 14th stage of the Tour de France has been temporarily stopped due to a mass fall. About five kilometers after the sharp start in Annemasse, a large part of the field fell in a descent.
The tour organization immediately neutralized the race and stopped the riders. After about 23 minutes, the race resumed with a two-kilometre neutral phase. It was the first mass fall on this year’s tour.
The Spaniard Antonio Pedrero and the South African Louis Meintjes had to give up the race and were taken to the hospital. A broken collarbone at Meintjes was immediately confirmed. The 31-year-old was 13th overall and was the captain of the Intermarché team with Georg Zimmermann from Augsburg.
Almost every team involved in the fall
The fall was apparently caused by a driver error. Almost every team was involved, so race director Christian Prudhomme felt compelled to neutralize. Sporting directors praised the move, which is rare on the Tour. The race doctors took care of the 20 or so drivers who fell, some of whom suffered extensive abrasions.
In the past, external factors were more likely to have caused a race stop. Sometimes environmental activists blocked the road, sometimes drivers went on strike for more safety on the road. In the 2019 Tour, the stage to Tignes had to be canceled due to a landslide.
