Tour de France 2018: Handful of moron fans are ruining an incredible sporting spectacle

NO other sport of world significance tolerates the appalling behaviour of fans as the Tour de France, yet it seems to sadly be escalating. Why isn’t more being done, asks Jon Anderson.

NO other sport of world significance tolerates the appalling behaviour of fans as the Tour de France, yet it seems to sadly be escalating.

Most of us look on with amazement as riders have to put up with morons trying to grab them, or in the case of Chris Froome having urine thrown over him at one stage this year.

And now news comes through that Vincenzo Nibali’s Bahrain-Merida team is considering legal action against the Tour after a strap from a spectator’s camera caused him to fall and fracture a vertebra, ending his race on the Alpe d’Huez.

Tour de France: Chris Froome tackled from his bike by French policeman in case of mistaken identity

Nibali and the camera strap that ended his tour

So as you can see a race in which reaching speeds of 130kph on descent isn’t a rider’s greatest fear due to crowd behaviour which includes smoke bombs, flares, spitting and jostling.

And the riders are never really out of danger, as Cadel Evans highlighted when becoming the first man from the southern hemisphere to win the event in 2011.

Geraint Thomas grabbed by fan on TdF

As he relaxed towards the finish and shared the traditional glass of champagne alongside his teammates, a TV motorbike crashed in front of Evans and nearly brought him down. Had he fallen he would most likely lost the Tour.

For Evans the over exuberant fans were an occupation hazard: “They can get too close and at times they don’t respect the riders,”’ said Evans.

Such as the blue who tried last week tried to knock Froome off his bike. Hard to believe a sport that is so massive in Europe, and one that badly requires an image improvement, can’t do more to make the playing field safer for its stars.