Sky stars blinded in pepper spray horror
MORE TOUR CHAOS AS COPS BREAK UP FARMERS’ PROTEST
Geraint thomas survived the first of three crucial Pyrenean stages in the tour de France yesterday despite being temporarily blinded by pepper spray after police broke up a farmers’ protest early on stage 16.
the dramatic scenes on the road from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon, after only 30 kilometres of racing, left thomas and team-mate Chris Froome choking and red-eyed.
‘ i felt it on the back of my throat,’ said thomas after the latest episode in an increasingly chaotic tour. ‘i was oK at the end though.
‘it was certainly unfortunate that it was still lingering around when we came through.
‘i could feel it in my eyes, a little bit of tingling, i gave them a wash and rinsed my mouth out. i was lucky it didn’t affect me too much.’
Froome was also affected. ‘i 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, noses and throats out and then the race continued again. thankfully the effects didn’t last long.’
While such protests have been tolerated in the past, the tensions around this year’s tour ensured that the police acted swiftly.
tour director Christian Prudhomme said: ‘i understand the right of people to protest, but we have to let the riders race. they have a difficult enough job as it is. respect all the riders — French, foreign, the yellow jersey — all the riders.’
thomas added: ‘i think it’s hard to police when it’s just on the open roads. it’s not a closed stadium so it’s a lot harder.
‘ the police and the tour are doing the best they can, i suppose. We don’t feel unsafe, it’s just unfortunate but i think everyone is doing the best they can. hopefully everyone can just behave.’
But for some, the farmers protesting over a reduction in EU funding had gone too far.
‘i’ve never seen a scene like that in my career,’ said adam Yates’s sports director matt White. ‘that was pretty full on. We had a 30second warning about a protest coming up, then the protesters went a bit crazy there. i think the police did a great job. their priority was looking after the riders.
‘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. Cycling has nothing to do with their problems. Let’s hope they get punished accordingly.’
a day that started with another bout of sledging between Dave Brailsford, team sky principal, and UCI president David Lappartient also saw two dramatic crashes.
in the first, Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert lost control of his bike on a fast descent and crashed into a wall before disappearing head first into a ravine. he remounted and finished the stage, but afterr visiting the tour’s mobile hospital, was expected to abandonn the race due to his injuries.
the second crash, on thee final descent of the Col duu Portillon, saw White’s teamm leader Yatess slide throughh a left-handd bend in the final 10 kilometres of the stage, with victory almost in sight. as Yates struggled back on to his bike, the pursuing French rider, Julian alaphilippe, sped past and raced into Bagneresde-Luchon to take his second stage win in this year’s tour.
Yates described his crash as ‘ one of those things. i’ve taken more risks on more technical descents in the past and never had a problem,’ he said. ‘ We recon all these stages but you never know what’s coming up. it was a bit damp.’
Yates accepted that his near miss was bad for his morale. ‘ When you come so close to winning a stage it is bad, not just for me but for the team,’ he said. ‘We’ve been working for a while to win one of these stages.’
But while Yates nursed his wounds, Brailsford and Lappartient continued to rub salt into each others’.
after spending the first week of the tour locked in a war of words, team sky’s boss was again taken to task by the French president of cycling’s world governing body after Brailsford had described the spitting by some fans towards team sky riders as a ‘French cultural thing’.
‘First thing, there are not just French fans on the tour,’ said Lappartient. ‘they come from everywhere and i don’t think it is healthy to make it about nationalities.
‘this is happening just as we are asking the fans to be calm, to make sure the riders — team sky riders — and especially Chris Froome are respected. he (Brailsford) is pouring oil on the fire. it’s not very good.
‘When you have a cycling team, you don’t insult those who come to watch the race. We and the riders are trying to ease the pressure. it’s wrong that a manager fuels the fire.’