Posted on 07/21/2004 1:04:05 PM PDT by BluegrassScholar
L'ALPE D'HUEZ, France (Reuters) - Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc has admitted he had seen fans spit at five-times champion Lance Armstrong during the 15.5-km time trial to L'Alpe d'Huez.
Leblanc also said the swarming crowds on the twisting climb on Wednesday had frightened him as riders, including Armstrong, were forced to weave through excited fans who jumped out on to the road.
"I was scared too and I felt relieved when we reached the section with barriers," Leblanc told Reuters after stage winner Armstrong described the stage as a "bad idea" and hit out at some German fans.
"Until this morning, everybody thought this time trial was a good idea and now we realised it was not so.
"There were lots of aggressive fans surrounding the riders and I even saw two idiots spit at Lance Armstrong."
"Unfortunately I doubt you can put barriers on the 14 kilometres of the climb," he added.
Armstrong, who stormed to victory nearly a minute ahead of his closest challenger Jan Ullrich and now looks set for a record sixth Tour win, urged organisers to think seriously about holding another time trial at the ski resort.
"I don't know if that's such a good thing for the Tour de France. I don't think it's safe. I think organisers should watch out," said the American.
Surely, he could have found someone smarter and prettier than an ugly old crow.
Third World Country? How about raped old bag?
They might as well the way the Bulls have been playing lately.
Orange is the Netherlands. They had a lot of fans there.
(Then I want to say....Go...Cheryl Crow Go....Away!;)
And for the Daily Double, what sentence did he receive for this violent act?
to mayo's credit he did wipe out and was the victim of an unyielding attack on the cobblestones led by those nasty posties! but then again thats racing
That's not really true. As creepycrawly mentioned about French fans in the post above, a lot of Germans like Armstrong because he's a good rider.
Ullrich is a fan favorite because he's got a nice personality. Ullrich always comments on how strong Lance is, and for the most part gives the indication that he's trying as hard as he can, but Lance is too good.
Lance waited for Ullrich a few years ago when Jan missed a curve and landed in the woods. Ullrich returned the favor last year when Lance crashed (and Jan was close last year). The German fans consider the rivalry between the two as an athletic issue, not a personal one.
When the tour went through Freiburg, Germany last year, which is Ullrich's adopted home (he's East German), the fans celebrated Armstrong as well as local hero Ullrich. Fans consider them to be friends.
As I read the German forums on the TDF, I don't find the comments much different than they are here.
My 2 cents.
longjack
The Dutch do tend to congregate at l'Alpe d'Huez, as their riders have had some success on that mountain (although not recently). The picture in question, however, was taken in the Pyrenees, and those orange-clad fans were certainly supporters of the nominally-Spanish but actually Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team. They ride in an all-orange kit.
Yeah......aren't they, though.
Pepper spray would be a good idea except since I'm serious, we have to think of the other competitors. I don't think they would want to race through a cloud of spray.
On the other hand, it would be nice that the harassment Lance is going through would penalize the other racers.
Someone gets sprayed, the racers the guy was rooting for has to pedal through the cloud.
Maybe it's Mark Morford.
Someone gets sprayed, the racers the guy was rooting for has to pedal through the cloud.
So what about the racers who the guy wasn't rooting for?
How about soap? Frenchies don't like soap.
I have not watched today's stage, but I will tonight (go OLN!) But the past stages I've seen I was quite surprised at how many US flags and stars and stripes themed outfits, banners, and writings on the road I saw.
The French have been spitting on America for years.
Ulrich's 61 second loss to Armstrong mirrors the same 61 seconds by which he lost last year's Tour to Armstrong. Talk about a psychological smackdown!
How about an electric branding iron in the shape of Texas - give 'em something to remember Lance by.
Everything is political for these people. That's one of the problems of socialism. It causes every nook and cranny of human existence to become politicized.
But in this case it's a good thing. An Armstrong victory will also be a Bush victory, thus heightening the schadenfreud.
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