Wednesday’s Tour de France finish in Valence was once again the scene of a course invasion, this time seemingly at the hands of a reported “prankster”, who climbed over the race barriers and rode his bike across the finish line, where he was tackled by a French police officer, just moments before Jonathan Milan won the sprint.
This latest route intrusion came exactly a week after a protester, wearing an ‘Israel out of the Tour’ t-shirt, made his way onto the finishing straight in Toulouse, where he was forcefully stopped by the Tour’s general commissioner Stéphane Boury, and arrested.
Boury was once again called into action in Valence at the end of rain-soaked stage 17, when a man wearing a Decathlon-AG2R jersey raced towards the finish on his own bike.
Course invader tackled by police at the finish line of stage 17, 2025 Tour de France, in Valence (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
The incident, which took place as the charging peloton neared the one kilometre to go marker, was not shown on television, but was captured by the race photographers gathered at the line, with footage of it later emerging on social media.
The intruder managed to avoid Boury, who hit him on the back as he passed, before he was shoulder barged to the ground by a member of the Compagnies Republicaines de Securite (CRS), which specialises in crowd and riot control.
He was then swiftly removed from the road, allowing the stage – won by green jersey wearer Jonathan Milan after a crash-marred finale – to finish as normal.
Good response by the organization today against the protester who tried to interupt the sprint today being at the finish just one minute before the riders.
No matter for what you protest for, you have no place on the route and no reason to endanger the riders. #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/BpSX7Dh8aK
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) July 23, 2025
According to reports in the French press, the intruder, a 31-year-old man from Montélimar, near the finish city of Valence, was not seriously hurt despite hitting the ground hard.
After being removed from the finish, he was arrested and taken into custody.
Course invader tackled by police at the finish line of stage 17, 2025 Tour de France, in Valence (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
These reports also suggest that, unlike last Wednesday’s course invasion, the man’s actions were not a protest. Instead, Le Parisien has reported that he may simply have been an ill-advised jokester who wanted to honour a bet with friends.
This information seems to have been corroborated by a video posted on social media last night, which shows the man standing with his bike at the barriers with around 450m to go as the race caravan passed a few hours before the end of the stage.
Course invader tackled by police at the finish line of stage 17, 2025 Tour de France, in Valence (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
In the video, captioned ‘POV: I do the Tour’, the man can be seen indicating that he will attempt to make his way to the finish line.
Along with his replica Decathlon-AG2R kit, he also points towards the DIY race number he attached to the back of his bike, while he is also seen wearing a set of numbers on the back of his jersey (the trainers may have been a giveaway that he wasn’t a late escapee from the pack, however).
Video of today’s man intercepted in the final of #TDF2025 stage (From TV2)
This was where the riders were at -1 to go.
Totally unacceptable and dangerous, kudos for the security for taking appropriate measures.pic.twitter.com/j0jqraJq95
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 23, 2025
At the end of the clip, the man can be seen leaping over the barriers and onto the road with his bike, before jumping on it and disappearing towards the finish, as a friend filmed and other spectators looked on, confused.
ASO is yet to comment on the incident.
Course invader tackled by police at the finish line of stage 17, 2025 Tour de France, in Valence (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
As noted above, this is the second time in a week the finishing straight of a Tour de France stage has been infiltrated by members of the public, protesters or otherwise.
At the end of stage 11 in Toulouse, a protester from Extinction Rebellion, wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘Israel out of the Tour’, made his way onto the road, just as Uno-X Mobility’s Jonas Abrahamsen and Jayco-Alula’s Mauro Schmid were sprinting for victory.
ASO executive Boury tackled the protester into the barriers before he could reach the riders. He was arrested and will stand trial for endangering the riders.
Anti-Israel protester runs onto road during sprint finish, 2025 Tour de France, stage 11, Toulouse (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Claiming responsibility for the act, Extinction Rebellion said the protest was carried out “to denounce Tour de France’s complicity in the genocide” and accused the race of “helping restore the image of the Israeli colonial regime” by allowing Israel-Premier Tech to participate.
XR Toulouse also criticised the team’s billionaire owner Sylvan Adams, a vocal supporter of Israel, claiming that Israel-Premier Tech was created with the aim of “bleaching the image of the Israeli colonial regime.”
“Neutrality does not exist. Not acting in a situation of oppression is like taking the side of the oppressor,” the group said in a statement.