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Chris Froome fined for fan punch

Despite descending masterclass the yellow jersey incumbent has been fined by race officials - the Brit defends his actions

Yesterday's Tour de France stage winner, Chris Froome, has been fined by race officials for an incident on the final climb of the day which saw him hit a fan in the head.

Froome's spectacular descent to victory yesterday was somewhat overshadowed by the incident on the ascent of the Col de Peyresourde which saw the two-time Tour de France champ lash out at an encroaching Colombian fan.

>Watch: Chris Froome smacks spectator on stage 8 climb

While the stage winner defended his actions in the post-ride press conference, race officials didn't feel the same way as they fined Froome 200 Swiss Francs for 'incorrect behaviour'.

The Team Sky rider told the gathered press after the race that he was not targeting Colombians, rather he was just reacting to a situation he felt was "getting dangerous."

"Nothing against the Colombian fans," Froome told the press. "I think they’re fantastic and bring a great atmosphere to the race. But this guy in particular was running right next to my handlebars that had a flag that was flying behind him. It was just getting dangerous, so I pushed him away, I lashed out and pushed him away."

This isn't the first incident in which Froome's been forced to react forcefully to fans running alongside him at the Tour de France, a very similar incident occurred during the 2013 race while he was in a breakaway with Colombian Nairo Quintana.

Froome, however, was quick to praise the fans for turning out in such great numbers, but reminded them of the risks of getting too close.

He said: "It’s fantastic having so many fans out on the route but please, please, I urge the fans: don’t try and run with the riders. It’s get really dangerous for the guys behind."

The Olympic bronze medalist also took to social media to defend his actions, and also taking a moment to apologise to the fan he hit - going to the effort to say sorry in Spanish.

 

 

 

 

In English the apology tweet reads: "Apologies to fan the that I pushed today - I was worried about how close you were, with the danger of having a fall!"

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17 comments

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antigee | 7 years ago
0 likes

didn't look like a punch to me - froome just jerked his elbow back hard - shows how close the guy was 

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CyberTonTo72 | 7 years ago
0 likes

are they fining the rider that sparked that guy out yesterday with the shoulder charge?

 

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Exup | 7 years ago
3 likes

Well done Chris.

Surely the Tdf organisers should be fined for H&S breach for not keeping your workplace safe.

Have they done a risk assessment for moronic fans and what is the mitigation plan to minimise the riders being harmed?

 

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
0 likes

Oh dear, how ever will he pay the Monegasque tax man?

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bycycle investi... | 7 years ago
0 likes

testosteron??

 

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james_from_stoke replied to bycycle investigates76 | 7 years ago
2 likes
bycycle investigates76 wrote:

testosteron??

 

he won't have if he keeps descending on the top tube like that...

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sttuey replied to bycycle investigates76 | 7 years ago
1 like
bycycle investigates76 wrote:

testosteron??

 

... is one letter short of being a word?

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namesarehard | 7 years ago
3 likes

At the end of the day, lets face it - the guy was in the way. It's not like getting hit by a professional cyclist is really gonna hurt too much anyway, if we're honest!

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WillRod | 7 years ago
3 likes

I hope they use those 200 Swiss Francs to buy a few barriers for next year to stop these idiots from causing accidents. I suspect they will just use it to pay for the wine at their next meeting.

 

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Gus T | 7 years ago
1 like

That's sure to bankrupt him!!!!!!!!

 

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
4 likes

Sky should have got Nacer Bouhanni on the team for wingman punching duties. 

Hopefully this doesn't turn into anything more 'enthusiastic' from 'fans' over the course of the tour. 

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dafyddp | 7 years ago
14 likes

Spectators and 4x4 drivers... If you can punch them, they'really clearly too close. 

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brooksby | 7 years ago
12 likes

Personally, I think that being able to punch someone while riding at race speeds demonstrates some very impressive bike handling skills...

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Jimnm replied to brooksby | 7 years ago
1 like
brooksby wrote:

Personally, I think that being able to punch someone while riding at race speeds demonstrates some very impressive bike handling skills...

That's spot on pal! CF is a very good rider lol 

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handlebarcam | 7 years ago
4 likes

I suspect that, if he retains his yellow jersey today, Le Blaireau will give him a hearty handshake on the podium. Still, it would be a pity if, having displayed the kind of panache that could win over the French fans, he now gets piss dumped on him by Colombians instead. Not that they are worse than any of the others, but the further you have to fly in order to wave your silly little flags around, the greater the concentration of idiocy there is likely to be within your ranks.

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StraelGuy | 7 years ago
6 likes

Worth every franc!

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HalfWheeler | 7 years ago
18 likes

How it should be done...

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