Tour de France Fan Causes Massive Crash by Taking a Sidelines Selfie

About 20 riders were involved in Sunday's incident at Stage 15 of the cycling event

A sideline selfie had catastrophic consequences at the Tour de France on Sunday.

A spectator trying to take a photo at Stage 15 of the world-famous cycling event inadvertently knocked the handlebars of rider Sepp Kuss of Team Jumbo-Visma, setting off a large crash.

A video, shared on YouTube by NBC Sports, captured a fan in a white hat taking a selfie with their arm extended as Kuss, 28, passed. The American's bike was bumped, resulting in the crash that brought down about 20 other cyclists including teammate Nathan van Hooydonck of Belgium, according to the BBC.

"There was a narrowing in the town and a spectator in the road, and I guess he just clipped my handlebars," Kuss told the outlet. "Luckily I'm OK and hopefully the other guys in the crash are all right. It's not ideal."

Kuss attributed the unfortunate incident and his inability to react quickly enough to avoid crashing to fatigue. "It's been such a hard race and everybody is a bit tired. You lose a bit of alertness and there's always things out of your control as well," he explained.

All the riders who crashed successfully completed the 179-kilometer stage from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, which was won by Dutchman Wout Poels.

Following the crash, the official Tour Twitter account posted a slow-motion video of a competitor ducking under a spectator's arm, writing, "Please pay attention to the riders."

Related: Tour de France Rider Breaks Neck After Colliding with a Spectator and Exits Competition

Several teams tweeted similar requests to fans. "Please be always aware when watching cycling at the side of the road," Team Jumbo-Visma posted.

"If you are spectating at this amazing event, please give the riders room to race," INEOS Grenadiers said.

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Sunday's crash was the biggest since an incident at the 2021 Tour, when a young woman holding a sign with a message in German for her grandparents caused cyclist Tony Martin to lose control of his bike, leading to a massive pileup. Two riders were pulled from the event and eight others were treated for various injuries. It took approximately 25 kilometers (more than 15 miles) for the peloton to fully regroup.

The woman was arrested the next day after she presented herself to a police station in Landerneau, an area in Brittany, France, where the tour held its first four stages.

Related: 2022 Tour de France Disrupted by Climate Activists Blocking Course During Stage 10

The woman was ordered to pay a symbolic fine of one euro, per the BBC.

"We just want people to take care when they come to the Tour and remember they are there to see the champions — and not to get on television," Tour director Christian Prudhomme said.

Tour competitors have become increasingly concerned about spectators seeking to be close to the road action. In June, the sport's world governing body, UCI, rolled out its new SafeR initiative, a broad range of safety measures including management of crowds.

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