A French gendarme on a motorbike grabs the running fan and whips him out of the way in very wet conditions on the last weekend of the race.
The Tour de France is done and dusted for another year but one moment you may have missed in recent days is contained in the clip below.
Vincenzo Nibali was putting the hammer down in the rain on Saturday’s stage when the fan in this clip got a little too close for comfort.
But with no time for conversation or to plead with the running fan to stay back in the wet and slippy conditions, a French gendarme on a motorbike grabs the fan and whips him out of the way.
We don’t take pleasure here at stickybottle in seeing anyone man handled in this way, especially fans who get out onto the roadside to cheer on the riders in such horrible conditions.
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But it’s pretty clear the Tour organisers and the police working on the race are going to have to take a non nonsense attitude from time to time.
And ‘Respect’ awareness raising campaigns – like that in Football and anti racism campaigns in numerous sports –are going to have to be embarked up to ensure cycling fans give riders space on the roads; not just at the Tour but at all races.
In the meantime, have a look at the clip below. The quality of it is not the best so you may have to watch it twice; it’s only a few seconds long.
Hat tippage, Mark O'Donohoe.
Old-school cop in action
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