Tour de France prankster knocked off bike by police in chaotic scenes

French police and security guards were forced to tackle a prankster who was dressed up as a cyclist and invaded the Tour de France track just moments before the conclusion of a crucial stage. The unidentified man was dressed in full cycling gear, imitating a rider.

But security immediately spotted the man after he leapt over the boardings with his bike and tried to ride across the finish line of Stage 17. He was wearing a Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale jersey.

The man was quickly removed from the track, ensuring that the leaders were able to pass. Stage 17 was eventually won by Italy's Jonathan Milan.

This year's Tour de France has been littered with incidents. Last Wednesday, at Stage 11, security personnel had to stop a pro-Palestine protestor who'd made their way onto the track.

The man sprinted down the track with his hands in the air a mere 25 metres from the stage's finish line. Riders were going past as it happened.

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The protestor was wearing a t-shirt which read: "Israel out of the Tour." He was also holding a keffiyeh, a black-and-white checkered headdress which is considered a pro-Palestine symbol.

During the 14th stage of the iconic event, an INEOS team car hit a spectator who'd stepped onto the road. Earlier this month, a knife-wielding attacker was shot in the leg by police after trying to disrupt the race between Amiens and Rouen.

The attacker allegedly threatened people and stabbed a police officer close to the finish line of stage 4. Huge crowds had gathered to see world champion Tadej Pogacar clash with the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Vingegaard.

But it was Milan, 24, who took the glory at stage 17 on Wednesday. "This is a really fantastic team victory and I have to thank them from the bottom of my heart," he beamed after his stage second win of his maiden Tour de France.

"I survived with the help of my team-mates. Without this, I would not be here. They delivered me in the best position [for the finish]."

It was a rain-soaked sprint finish in Valence, with a huge crash one kilometre from the end making the headlines. Milan, a debutant with Lidl-Trek, leads 'rockstar' Pogacar by 72 points in the points classification and is braced for a battle with the dominant Slovenian.

"We achieved 61 points today, so I'm really happy about that," Milan added. "It was one of our goals in the beginning of the day. I think it's never easy to have a real specific [goal] and then to achieve it, so I'm also really happy for that.

"In the next days, we will try to do our best, to take as many points as we can in the intermediate sprints and then, yeah, we will see.. With Tadej he's a cycling rock star, so we will also see with the points that he will achieve. From my side, I will just try to give my best to bring the green jersey as far as we can."