Tour de France: "If you meet him, beat him up," the peloton faces the poison of social media

"You tried to kill Jasper" , "I hope you get kicked out of the Tour" , "If you can't ride a bike, retire" , "Wanker" . On July 7th, at the end of the third stage of the Tour de France , Bryan Coquard was the target of an outpouring of hatred on social media . A barrage of insults came after the fall of the Belgian Jasper Philipsen at the start of an intermediate sprint, unintentionally caused by the Cofidis team sprinter who was upset at the finish. A week later, it was the turn of the Norwegian rider Tobias Johannessen to suffer the wrath of an army of anonymous people hiding behind pseudonyms because he had been at the origin of the fall of Tadej Pogacar in the final of the ^11th stage in Toulouse.

The 25-year-old Dutchman felt compelled to post a video the next day, calling for calm, scared by the turn of events. "I feel bad, but I wouldn't wish the number of threats I've been receiving on anyone…