Moronic, cowboy cameramen have left their unwanted stamp on the Tour de France for the second time in a few days. The first accident happened a few days ago, when a clown on a motorbike tried to squeeze past the peloton and knocked down Danish rider Nicki Sorensen.
The anger which followed this incident should have been enough to inject a little care into the camera crews’ behaviour. Apparently the reaction from the riders and the tour organisers was not nearly strong enough.
Yesterday in Stage 9, a camera car took out Johnny Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha, two riders in a five man breakaway. They were 35 km from home in a 208 km race. Given the uphill finish, Johnny Hoogerland in particular had a good chance of winning his first ever Tour stage. He had just won both category 2 climbs in this stage and was looking strong.
The camera car was specifically told by the race director not to pass the riders, but deliberately ignored that order. If that wasn’t enough, the driver was clearly not paying enough attention to the road ahead or the cyclists. The car went straight into Flecha as it swerved to miss a tree. Hoogerland then went over Flecha and into a barbed wire fence.
Watch the video to see what an absolutely reckless piece of driving this was. I’m surprised at how muted the commentators’ reaction was.
Because of their injuries, Flecha and Hoogerland finished 16:44 and 16:38 behind the winner, rather than possibly being the winner. They are now placed 80th and 90th respectively in the overall time classification.
Without the fall, they would be 40th and 46th, so they were never going to win the yellow jersey. However, Hoogerland is the leading climber. If he is injured, the accident has possibly cost him this years’ polka dot jersey, prestigious in itself, not to mention the sponsorship dollars.
Additionally, both riders missed out on a sprint for €1,500 only 5 km down the road from the accident.
Banning the camera crew from the rest of the Tour, or even any future Tour is not enough. I think both riders should sue the camera car driver personally, not just his employer. Additionally, the deliberate ignoring of direct instructions not to pass the riders from the race director should be sufficient to cause the police to charge the driver with reckless driving.
These photographers act as if the race is as much about them as about the riders. It is not. The safety of the riders is far more important than a good close up shot.
It is possible to drive within the race and still be respectful of the riders. The team cars manage it, so why can’t the press?
The reason is because too many of the camera crews are ignorant, cowboy dickheads. There are some decent ones, but far too many are the same personality types as the paparazzi who chase celebrities around: selfish, shallow, amoral wankers who make a living feeding off other people’s lives and achievements.
The only language they understand is fear and greed. There obviously have not been sufficiently harsh consequences for similar behaviour in the past. Maybe if the police bring charges, then both riders sue the driver into bankruptcy, it will serve as a lesson to the rest of these fuckwits.
Hopefully both riders will be able to finish the Tour. They deserve respect for just finishing the race, given their injuries were sufficiently serious for them to drop over 16 min on the leaders in just 35 km.
Update:
Johnny Hoogerland finished the tour in 74th place, with 33 stitches in him.
Juan Antonio Flecha finsihed 98th.
It's pretty gutsy to ride 3,500 km after being injured like that.
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