Blood, sweat and tear gas in Tour de Farce
Team Sky’s Chris Froome said his eyes were “stinging and burning” after police accidentally hit the peloton with pepper spray during a chaotic day at the Tour de France. The police were responding to a farmer’s protest which interrupted stage 16 from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon.
JUST when you thought this Tour de France had thrown up all the drama it could – what with the booing and the spitting and the crashing and the accusations of French cultural bias – and then pepper spray enters the air.
Another bizarre day in this most extraordinary of races ended with Tour director Christian Prudhomme appealing once again for calm after half the peloton found itself “choking” on pepper spray, which had blown into its path as police attempted to clear protesting French farmers from the route.
Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome, who still sit first and second respectively in the general classification after emerging unscathed from a wacky stage 16, were two of the riders affected by the incident.
It took place 30km into the day as the race passed near to Toulouse. The Team Sky duo, who are vying for the yellow jersey, had to wash their faces and rinse out their mouths due to “stinging and burning” sensations.
In total the stage from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon, in the Pyrenees, was held up for around 15 minutes after hay bales were thrown into the road by angry farmers protesting the French government’s plans to reduce the number of agricultural areas that qualify for farming subsidies from the EU.
SCREAMING
The gendarmerie took aggressive action, driving protesters away using TW100 – a pepper spray administered via aerosol. They also drove away a flock of sheep the farmers were allegedly trying to use to occupy the road, producing bizarre images of police officers armed with guns and batons screaming at livestock.
One female protester, who was sitting in the middle of the road, cross-legged, was sprayed at point-blank range, leading to accusations that the police were being heavy-handed. But riders and team staff generally declared themselves impressed by their efforts in the aftermath.
“I’ve never seen a scene like that before in my life,” said Matt White, sporting director at Mitchelton-Scott. “Obviously there have been protests in the past but it was pretty full-on. We had like a 30-second warning (from race radio); a heads-up to give our riders a warning. Then the protesters tried to get a bit crazy.”
Asked whether he felt the police had been too violent, White added: “The No 1 priority for the police is to look after the riders, not mad protesters. Those guys are crazy. Whatever message they were trying to produce, we as a bike community have nothing to do with it.
“I don’t even know what they were protesting. Cycling has nothing to do with their problems. They wanted to make a statement. They did. Let’s hope they get punished accordingly.”
Team Sky’s lead sporting director Nicolas Portal agreed describing the incident as a “worry”.
“The police did a great job, obviously,” Portal said. “All the gas was blown into the riders by the wind and they had to stop to wash their eyes and mouths. Everything was fine in the end, but it was a big worry for everyone.”
The Tour has been hijacked by protesters on multiple occasions down the years, although the experience of being doused with pepper spray was a first for many riders.
Froome, who has been a target for Tour spectators over the last few years, said he was never concerned that the protesters might have been targeting him or Team Sky specifically.
“I just sprayed some water in the eyes and water in the face,” he said. “My throat, nose and eyes were burning afterwards, but I think quite a lot of riders were in a similar situation so I think we were all grateful for the temporary neutralisation just to have a couple of kilometres to clear our eyes.”
Thomas, who retained his 1min 39sec lead after a stage (won by Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe) which also saw a spectacular high-speed crash involving the Belgian classics star Philippe Gilbert and another crash which denied Britain’s Adam Yates a possible win, added that he sympathised with the authorities.
“I think it’s hard when it’s just on the open roads, it’s not a closed stadium so it’s a lot harder,” Thomas said.
Prudhomme – who has been accused by some of stoking he flames in the build-up to the race by demanding Sky leave Froome at home as a result of his now-quashed salbutamol investigation – implored fans to act responsibly in the remaining few days of the race.
“Being a cyclist is a really tough job,” he said. “We saw that with the Philippe Gilbert crash. They take risks every day. There is really nothing we can do with (the protests). (© Daily Telegraph, London) Tour de France, Live TG4, 1.55/Eurosport 3.0