After Chris Froome had urine thrown over him and Richie Porte was punched, Nicolas Roche has said his whole Team Sky has been abused and some spat at (Photo: Sirotti)
By Brian Canty
Nicolas Roche has spoken about how he and his Sky teammates have been booed, taunted and insulted by overly aggressive fans at the Tour de France.
The Irishman said the whole squad has been subjected to all kinds of abuse since team leader Chris Froome took the yellow jersey.
Froome had urine thrown over him on yesterday's stage from Rodez to Mende while Richie Porte was punched in the ribs on Tuesday’s stage to La Pierre Saint Martin.
It was on Tuesday that Froome established his seemingly unassailable lead at the top of the general classification.
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And since then the atmosphere at the race has turned ugly, with Team Sky having extra security placed around their team bus before and after stages.
Roche believes some of the media, and French TV in particular, have done a lot of damage to the perception of the honesty of his team's performance.
Richie Porte has been fantastic riding in support of Froome, but he has been hit by especially thuggish abuse; having been punched and spat at (Photo: Sirotti)
“We’re dealing with a lot of accusations,” Roche told stickybottle from the team’s hotel last night.
“French TV and the media were quick to jump to conclusions and they’ve done a lot of harm. Fans were very aggressive; we’ve been booed and insulted.
“Luke Rowe and Richie (Porte) were spat at; it’s not only Froomey but the entire team, every one of us.
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"Even the last rider who was in the grupetto 25 minutes behind (has been targetted). It’s not great to be treated with such disrespect.”
Though Froome holds a commanding lead of over three minutes on general classification, Roche does not believe his rivals are demoralised.
He feels they will continue to keep trying to find weakness in the seemingly indefatigable Sky squad.
Roche shows the strain at the finish of stage 12 to Plateau de Beille. The abuse his team has been forced to deal with aside; he says he is enjoying being part of the squad that has bossed a lot of the action so far. He believes the race for yellow is far from over despite leader Froome's massive time advantage on his rivals (Photo: Sirotti)
“No, our rivals are not demoralised and all the proof you need is Quintana being the first to attack today," Roche explained.
“Nibali seems to be better these last few days; Valverde and Contador also.
“Tinkoff put out a strong tempo on Plateau de Beille (on Thursday) to prepare an attack and also put pressure on the final climb to the finish today so they still believe the race is there for them.”
Team Sky has been immense so far and, save for the abuse, Roche is loving every minute of it.
“I love being on the front. Physically it’s not easy but it’s also exciting.
“Controlling the biggest race in the world, defending a yellow jersey; it's hard but it’s a thrilling adventure.”
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