"They almost brought down..." - Jonas Vingegaard worries about danger of amateur riders during Tour de France rest day

It was pointed out and commented quite a lot on social media this Tuesday the fact that Team Visma | Lease a Bike's rest day training ride was followed by many amateur riders in Toulouse. This is not an 'unwritten rule' in cycling but not prevented by teams either, and Jonas Vingegaard is among those who believes this comes with dangers.

It was briefly mentioned by Ronald Koeman that he was surprised by the amount of fans following along the biggest stars in the world such as Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert, fighting to take pictures and meet them. Whilst not necessarily bad, this comes with it's risks, as Vingegaard explains in words to Wielerflits:

"I remember a reconnaissance from two years ago of the time trial to Combloux (which he won in 2023, ed.). Several cyclists were also riding there, and they almost brought down Wilco Kelderman. It can indeed be dangerous."

Many teams have fans following them along the route and the debate on how open teams should be regarding this topic, or if they should reinforce security in some way, has been opened. There is a spectrum of opinions but a general consensus that a risk exists - with illnesses or possible crashes also being a concern.

At the start of stage 11, another day that will be explosive and could see some GC action, Vingegaard shared his opinion on what may happen: "Well, that depends on the other teams' racing style. If a team is willing to control things and there's a manageable breakaway ahead, it's difficult for the attackers. But there are undoubtedly many riders who want to attack."