Tear gas from farmers’ protest delays cyclists
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CYCLING: Julian Alaphilippe won the 16th stage of the Tour de France, which was interrupted when police used tear gas to disperse a farmers’ protest that had blocked the road with bales of hay. Geraint Thomas retained the yellow jersey. Belgian Philippe Gilbert crashed in the stage while in the lead, hitting a wall and flipping off his bike but avoiding a major injury.
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BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON, France — Tear gas in riders’ eyes. A farmers’ protest blocking the road. Two key crashes on dangerous descents.
The only thing lacking from the wild 16th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday was a shakeup in the overall standings.
Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe took advantage of his downhill skills to win the first of three mountainous legs in the Pyrenees, which was briefly interrupted when police used tear gas to disperse a farmers’ protest that had blocked the road with bales of hay.
The overall standings were unchanged. Geraint Thomas in the yellow jersey, second-placed Chris Froome and third-placed Tom Dumoulin all crossed together nearly nine minutes behind.
The farmers’ protest occurred 30 kilometers into the 218-kilometer (135.5mile) leg from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon.
Thomas, Froome, world champion Peter Sagan and other riders were treated with eye drops due to the tear gas amid a 15-minute delay.
“I just felt my throat and nose were burning, eyes were burning afterward,” Froome said. “But I think quite a lot of riders were in a similar situation.
“Thankfully the effect didn’t last long,” Froome added. “It was just a temporary thing with stinging and burning.”
It was the latest in a series of incidents involving spectators during this year’s race, with Team Sky riders being pushed and spat on and 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali having his back broken in a crash when a fan caught their camera strap on his handlebars.
“We feel safe. Obviously on some of the climbs not everyone’s our fans but we don’t feel threatened,” Thomas said.
The small group of farmers from the Aude department were protesting a planned reduction of European Union funding, according to French authorities.
Thomas remained 1 minute, 39 seconds ahead of four-time champion Froome, with Dumoulin 1:50 back.
Alaphilippe took the lead when Adam Yates crashed on a technical descent in the finale.
“I knew the finale was tricky,” Alaphilippe said. “I was sad for (Yates) but it could have happened to me, too, because I took a lot of risks. I went all out for 220 kilometers today. I’m exhausted.”
Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert was leading when he crashed earlier in the stage while descending from the Col de Portet-d’Aspet, hitting a wall and flipping off his bike spectacularly but avoiding major injury.
“I thought I was broken everywhere,” said Gilbert, a teammate of Alaphilippe’s on the Quick-Step team. “But I ended up more or less OK.”
However, Quick-Step later announced that Gilbert, a former world champion, was withdrawing from the Tour with a fracture of his left kneecap.