Froome cops a spraying

CHRIS FROOME ran the gauntlet once again at the Tour de France as he was showered with an unidentified liquid.

Near the summit of the Col de la Croix Neuve a spectator leaned over the barrier and sprayed him.

After being punched and spat at on Alpe d’Huez on Thursday and dodging a yellow smoke bomb on the way to Valence on Friday, this was more of the unruly nonsense Froome (below) and Team Sky had feared. Both the Brit and his race-leading team-mate Geraint Thomas have shown the patience of saints in the face of provocation. And Thomas said of the liquid tossed at Froome: “I don’t know what it was but I’m not surprised. It’s always been water from what I’ve seen.”

The Team Sky pair top the overall standings following Spaniard Omar Fraile’s breakaway win.

Meanwhile, Sir Bradley Wiggins says “very sinister” facts have emerged relating to the leak of his therapeutic use exemptions.

Wiggins said: “There are things that have come to light, that we’ve found out since, that are very sinister.”