Tour de France CEO Christian Prudhomme has made a public appearance yesterday afternoon to ask fans to show more respects at the cyclists of the Tour and demanded them to stop once and for all the unruly behaviour.
The declaration comes right after Team Sky was booed when on the podium and Vincenzo Nibali was involved in a crash after his bike got tangled up, sending the Italian rider home after suffering a fractured back.
Only a couple of days ago, Froome also became part of such behaviour when a fan crossed the road and went straight at him slapping him on his face while riding with over 20 miles per hour.
? Classifications after Stage 13 ?
? @GeraintThomas86 ??
? @petosagan ??
?⚪ @alafpolak ??
? @p_latour ??#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/SLt3gjSrgv— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 20, 2018
Taking measures
Prudhomme said that if such behaviours reoccur the body will have to take proper measures to stop fans from running behind cyclists, especially during mountain stages.
“They have only one wish, to be on television and take a selfie,” Prudhomme said. “We have no wish to see that again. Rocket flares don’t belong on bike races. They make the riders breathe in noxious air, and they blind them.
“It just doesn’t make sense…The climb up the Alpe d’Huez was painful. The riders of the Tour, the champions of this race, need to be respected,” he added.
Etape 14 / Stage 14
? Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux ➡️ Mende
? 188 km
? 13:05 CET
? 17:40 CET? Bessèges
⛰ 1 x cat. 4, 1 x cat. 3, 2 x cat. 2#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/XlauPC20Ow— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 21, 2018