photo by: dangiles73
In a article just posted over on the Guardian1 they bring up a new challenge in Lance’s unlikely comeback, violent fans. Anyone who’s watched a major cycling race, especially one with a mountain finish along narrow roads knows how close cycling fans get to the action and how intense they can be. Still it’s rare for fans to cross the line from intense to intentionally aggressive. In fact many more fans seem to get tangled with their own heroes by getting overzealous in their encouragement. It’s not unheard of though and Lance recounted one of the most famous examples of fan aggression in the Guardian interview:
photo by: _Wildberry_
“Eddie Merckx would have won six Tours if he hadn’t been punched. It happens to the best of us. Eddie broke a rib, fell over and was out of the race. I try not to think about that stuff.”1
Merckx was punched by an angry french fan during stage 14 of the ‘75 Tour and went on to loose the race and retire two years later.
Anger with french cycling fans is nothing new to Armstrong though. French fans have certainly had there chances during Lance’s seven years of tour domination and from what I could find there hasn’t been anything more serious than verbal abuse and profane chalk displays on the road.
“There’re some aggressive, angry emotions [in France]. If you believe what you read my personal safety could be in jeopardy. Cycling is a sport of the open road and spectators are lining that road. I try to believe that people, even if they don’t like me, will let the race unfold.1”
It’s definitely not a world wide concern as Australian Stuart O’Grady has said that Aussie fans are ecstatic to have Armstrong back and watch him in the Tour Down Under this January. I expect this will turn out to be non-issue in the comeback and while disgruntled French (and other) fans may be more vocal I’d expect they will continue to respect the event by not interfering directly with the competition.
- Guardian.co.uk, Armstrong fears violent attack on Tour return [↩] [↩] [↩]
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