Trial by assault
GERAINT THOMAS ticked off another day in yellow as the Tour took another strange turn ahead of today’s showdown on the gruesome Col du Portet. The Welshman was hoping for another quiet day to harbour his resources and eventually that is what he got – but only after the most dramatic of incidents just half an hour into the stage. Not only was it full on at the front of the peloton as teams tried to stress Sky before the day’s main climbs, but he then had to contend with the peloton being pepper-sprayed, accidentally, by the most notorious and hapless French police officer since Inspector Clouseau.
Thomas was one of those seen rubbing his eyes as the peloton was ordered to halt in a remote rural location and team doctors moved in with eye ointment.
“It was still lingering in the air when we came through,” he said. “I was lucky it didn’t affect me too much. I could feel my eyes tingling so I gave them a wash and rinsed my mouth out.”
Team-mate Chris Froome added: “My throat, nose and eyes were burning afterwards, but thankfully the effects didn’t last long.”
The incident had been sparked by French farmers who often hijack the Tour to garner publicity. They had used their tractors to nudge big hay bales into the road and the peloton had already been forced to slow where the road narrowed when events turned nasty.
The gendarmerie peppersprayed at least one protestor, but a drama instantly turned into a crisis as the spray was blown back on the wind into his face and then into the peloton.
The incident was not related to other unruly scenes this year which have seen Froome punched and spat at and Vincenzo Nibali being taken to hospital with a broken vertebra after being knocked off his bike by a fan on Alpe d’Huez. But it does add to the feeling that this