The Tour de France has finished for another year, but it’s left us with plenty of fond memories to keep us going.

We’re not talking about Vincenzo Nibali’s dominative victory though, more the time that Ramunas Navardauskas sent a fan’s phone flying or the time a one-wheeled spectator stole the show with a wheelie.

Here’s a comprehensive round up of some of the strangest and most enjoyable moments from this year’s Tour…

Nibali’s Devastating Denial

Vincenzo Nibali may have won the yellow jersey this year, but he had already lost the general public by the time he reached Paris.

The Tour winner was left humiliated on the podium after his stage two victory, when the podium girl categorically denied him a peck on the cheek.

The Italian rider tried to quickly cover up his rejection with a classic neck scratch, but as you’ll see in the video, this only added further to his globally broadcast embarrassment.

You may have taken the top prize this year Vincenzo, but we’ll always remember you for this.

Questionable Crowd Control

On more than a few occasions this year, the crowd got a little too close to the action for the riders liking, and it was more often than not because of the infamous ‘selfie’.

In the video above, Ramunas Navardauskas makes a huge basketball block on a British fan seeking a selfie, sending the phone smashing to the ground.

It’s a denial almost on par with Vincenzo Nibali’s podium girl, and it wasn’t the only crowd blunder either.

There was also this borderline shoulder assault on a budding film maker…

And this beauty of a hit on an unsuspecting phone victim. “Hey mum, I think I’m on televi-“…

Démare’s Toilet Troubles

For French rider Arnaud Démare, stage 14 of the 2014 Tour de France will be one to forget. The rider had to stop on two occasions to sprint to a camper van toilet, and each time he left, he didn’t re-emerge for a solid few minutes.

While these diarrhoea troubles were no doubt a nightmare for Démare, it’s hard not to have a little snigger at the surreal nature of the whole situation.

There’s a great anecdote in there for the owners of the camper vans as well… “Hey dad, guess who just took a dump in our toilet?!”

Bartosz Huzarski’s Legs

This one speaks for itself really. Check out Bartosz Huzarski’s legs after stage 18 of the Tour. Surely that can’t be healthy?!

Luca Paolini’s Tweeting Addiction

Italian rider Luca Paolini was snapped riding at 40mph with his phone out on stage eight of the Tour – cueing organisers to give him an official warning and remind him that the use of phones is strictly forbidden.

Paolini is a regular tweeter and apologised soon after on the social media site, claiming he hadn’t realised his phone was on him and he was just turning it off.

We reckon he got bored and was rapidly swiping right on Tinder.

A Very Yorkshire Welcome

We were expecting the riders to struggle their way through Yorkshire at the start of the tour. After all, it’s probably a bit of a culture shock to the bulk of foreign riders.

From the aerial artwork above to a whole variety of other weird and wonderful episodes, the Yorkshire locals certainly did all they could to leave their mark on the contest.

For starters, there was this guy who thought it’d be best to cheer on the race naked:

Then there was this dog looking to challenge Vincenzo Nibali…

And this farmer who made sure his kids got the best possible view of the race:

The Wondrous Wheelie

Finally, this Tour fanatic found a hilarious new way to get the attention of the riders, popping an elongated wheelie as the Astana team rode to glory.

Wearing grey cargo shorts and a black rucksack, this guy has managed to steal the limelight from Vincenzo Nibali at the finish of the Tour de France – something not particularly easy to achieve.

A perfect end to a wonderfully weird edition of the Tour. Until next year…

You May Also Like

6 Unbelievable Sports That Will Make You Question Humanity

Think Lance Armstrong Was Bad? He’s Got Nothing on These Crazy Cheats From Tour de France History