As fans cause havoc on Ventoux, does the Tour de France have a mountain to climb of its own?

On a stage where a big German sprinter, Andre Greipel, attacking a break on the slopes of Mont Ventoux ISN'T the craziest thing that's happened, you know something big has gone down.

As Thomas De Gendt was crossing the line to claim an impressive stage win, on the shortened stage 12, all hell was breaking loose just over a kilometre down the road behind him.

The trio of Richie Porte, Bauke Mollema and the yellow jersey, Chris Froome, had made a break from the rest of the GC contenders, and had put a not inconsiderable distance between themselves and the struggling Nairo Quintana.

 The move was looking like one that would further cement Froome's place at the top of the standings, until Porte suddenly found himself getting a camera close-up neither party would have wanted.

 As ever, throngs of fans congregated on the climbs of the infamous Alp, but this time they seemed denser than normal. The curtailed stage meant 6 km-worth of fans planning to be in attendance on the original finishing segment were now taking their place further down, taking up most of the road.

 As the camera bike struggled to carve its way through the hoards, it was brought to an abrupt stop by the sea of fans. Unfortunately for the threesome, the stop was too abrupt to avoid, as they ploughed into the back of the Moto and the BMC man's face came hurtling into the camera lens.

@BaukeMollema

If that wasn't mad enough, the proceeding scene of Chris Froome legging it up the rest of the mountain (pretty impressively after +100km of cycling and wearing cleats, it has to be said), in search of a service vehicle and a working bike, is one that will go down in Tour history.

The change of bikes was hindered further with the support vehicles also struggling to make their way through the legions of fans.

Froome eventually crossed the line, but this farce had provisionally relegated him to 6th in the General Classification. Thankfully, sense prevailed and Froome and Porte were awarded the same time as Mollema - who somehow came through the incident comparatively untroubled - but questions remain over organisation; specifically of the fans.

@letour_uk

One of the joys of professional cycling is the ability of fans to get so close to the action. By and large, the fans add to the spectacle, particularly on climbs as iconic as Mont Ventoux.

The images of riders winding their way through the bright orange of Dutch Corner on Alpe d'Huez are almost as famous as the mountain itself, and the Tour de France wouldn't be the Tour de France without an overexcited middle-aged mad dressed as a devil jumping up and down.

Tim de Waele/Corbis

But there are occasions where fans get a little too close to the action. There have been times in the past where they've been responsible for crashes and already this tour we've seen a fan get knocked flat out by George Bennett, while Chris Froome punched a bloke dressed as a chicken the day before, as he came dangerously close to toppling the riders.

Initially, it was assumed it was an error by the Moto driver, with incidents including the motorbikes becoming seemingly commonplace in recent times, but, in reality, there was nothing more they could have done.

The alternative was to wrap the spectator around its wheels and drag them up the hill and, as satisfying as that may have seemed to Porte, Froome and the rest of us, at the time, it's not really an option, is it?

@veloimages

The obvious solution to these troubles is to extend the barriers - normally seen inside the last few hundred metres - out further.

Races, however, can be won and lost at any point on a climb, so where do you draw the line and stop the barriers? The whole climb? Would that always be logistically possible or, even, as Jonathan Vaughters pointed out, financially desirable?

An alternative is almost even simpler: better stewarding.

The crowds often seem unruly and, but for a couple of gendarmes dotted on the edges, there seems to be nobody on hand to restore order, should things get a little OTT. Again, though, the sourcing and training of any stewards, if they don't go down the volunteer route, is a financial, if not practical, hurdle.

As earlier pointed out, for the majority of the time, the fans add to the experience, rather than detract, but you can't help but feel there is a certain element of organisation lacking; especially today, when they should have foreseen the trimming of the stage would result in the same amount of fans having to pack into a shorter space.

Lessons will have been learnt from today (although how many times have we said that about the Tour before) and hopefully we can continue to have the fervent support, whilst avoiding the major bollock-droppings of today. Because, in a sport that costs its fans nothing to enjoy, we don't want the enjoyment of the fans to cost the sport.