"Please give us enough space to race" - Remco Evenepoel reminds spectators to behave in a Tour de France campaign

Tour de France is not only about the spectacular battles of the world's best cyclist on the roads. The race would be nothing without its loyal fanbase. It's essentially the crowds that create the unique atmosphere that draws riders to the Grande Boucle like a spell.

However this is a double-edged sword. While it's awesome to see the roadsides brimming with people who enjoy the biggest cycling event to the fullest, there is also the ever-present danger of rider-spectator incidents. Lately, riders getting unvoluntarily involved with fans is becoming more and more common sight.

We laugh off when inattentive fan loses their smartphone in an attempt to get the perfect photo of riders passing through, but there have been far more severe incidents, such as the infamous "opi-omi affair". The Tour de France organisers of course don't want to see similar collisions happen again, and so they started a campaign to raise the awareness of the wider cycling audience. Part of this campaign are the biggest stars of the peloton such as Remco Evenepoel reminding fans to leave as much space as possible for the riders on mountains.

"As you know, it's gonna be my first Tour," Evenepoel begins in the video posted by race organisers ahead of stage 9. "And I want you all to enjoy the event as much as possible. But please make sure that we have enough space to place our attacks, to ride over the climbs. Don't forget to enjoy, of course, but we need the space to race and you can help us with that. Please give us enough space."

We have seen many times when cars/motos couldn't pass through the crowds, for example with Chris Froome running up the Mont Ventoux in 2016. Or Tadej Pogacar launching a promising attack on Col de Jeux Plane in 2023 which was stopped by road blockade.