The Tour de France caravan was still enthused on Monday morning by the extraordinary passion for the Tour shown during two days in Yorkshire, but several riders warned about the dangers of such huge crowds and the simple safety rules the public should respect.

Alberto Contador pointed out after Sunday's stage the dangers of “riding through a crowd at 90 kph in a descent or in villages with stray dogs”. France's Thomas Voeckler, one of the voices of the peloton, called on the spectators to be more careful:

“I again saw young children seated on chairs one metre from the road. I'm not thinking about us riders. We are used to crash, it's part of the job. But our worst nightmare would be to hit a child,” he said.

FDJ team leader Thibaut Pinot also reminded an obvious fact with humour:

“In my opinion, dogs don't give a damn about the Tour. So please don't bring them with you!”