A tearful wait for some sanity
The sight of Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas wiping away tears on the side of the road was, presumably, exactly what a certain section of the race-going public have been wanting since the start of this race in the Vendee over two weeks ago.
Unfortunately for the anti-Team Sky brigade, they were not tears of pain and frustration born of a race-ending crash or mechanical issue. They were caused by the liberal use of pepper spray by members of the gendarmerie who were attempting to disperse a bunch of angry French farmers.
There was an irony in what happened yesterday. Dave Brailsford, Team Sky’s principal, had caused a stink on Monday by suggesting the spitting, the booing and the physical intimidation to which his riders have been subjected was a phenomenon particular to “French culture“.
Now here was a something that really was particular to French culture – the French love a protest, let’s be honest, and particularly so during a Tour de France – but it was not directed at his riders.
Yesterday’s events did highlight again, though, just how vulnerable the riders are. Even the presence of armed police, responding rapidly and wielding canisters of tear gas, could not stop a group of farmers from bringing the Tour to a halt. It was fortunate they were only tossing hay bales into the road.
It is why the escalation of bad blood between Team Sky and those who attend the Tour is so unwelcome. And why all sides should make an effort to repair relations forthwith.
Brailsford’s diatribe at the Team Sky press conference in Carcassonne on Monday was misguided. He should never have linked the unsavoury incidents which have taken place over the last few years with “French culture”. This is a man who, after he left school, bought a one-way train ticket to Grenoble and joined a semi-pro cycling team; who enjoys giving interviews in French.
Brailsford should have said he was a devout Francophile but was disappointed with sections of the Tour-going public who continue to overstep the mark in their (much of it valid) criticism of his team. He would have had a point then.
Instead, Brailsford managed to increase the pressure on Thomas and Froome as they prepare to run another gauntlet in the Pyrenees today. He also gave an opportunity to David Lappartient, the UCI president, to reclaim the moral high ground in their war of words.
“I would say two things,” said Lappartient. “First, there are not only French spectators, there are spectators of all nationalities at the Tour. Second, it is not very healthy for his team to nationalise the debate whereas we are calling on the public to be calm, to ensure that the riders, and especially Chris Froome, are respected.”
French cycling fans – still waiting for their first winner since Bernard Hinault back in 1985 – are clearly increasingly alienated by a Tour dominated by a British team who have been through a series of scandals in recent years. — The Daily Telegraph
33 Years since the French cycling fans enjoyed a home winner on the Tour