Angry Chris Froome says a spectator threw urine at him during stage 14 of the Tour de France, on a day in which the Team Sky man extended his overall lead.
Froome, 30, has faced unfounded accusations of doping since winning stage ten solo and slammed the ‘irresponsible reporting’ that followed.
And, early on stage 14, the Kenyan-born Brit claims a Tour fan shouted ‘doper’ and threw a cup of urine at him as he raced past.
“[It] is extremely wrong on so many different levels,” he said after the race, before taking to Twitter to slam the fan for ‘ruining a great day’, which saw fellow Brit and former Sky team-mate Steve Cummings claim the stage win.
Disappointing that a French “fan” ruined a great day for me today. Congrats @StevoCummings @TeamMTNQhubeka #MandelaDay @letour
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 18, 2015
“Thank you to the real fans who come out to support all the riders every day,” he added. “Pity such a small minority can have such a negative impact.”
The incident is just the latest to have inflicted the Sky team, with Richie Porte tweeting earlier in the week of facing doping accusations from roadside fans as he returned to the team bus.
According to a Tweet from Cannondale-Garmin’s Sebastian Langeveld, Porte was also spat at during stage 14 with the Dutchman adding: “Those guys don’t deserve this at all! Please stop, or stay at home.”
Today I saw a spectator spit on @richie_porte very disrespectful those guys don’t deserve this at all! Please stop, or stay at home
— Sebastian Langeveld (@sebaslangeveld) July 18, 2015
The incident also evokes memory of the 2013 Tour de France, when Mark Cavendish had urine squirted on him during an individual time trial, with some fans blaming for his part in a bad crash suffered by Marcel Kittel’s lead-out man Tom Veelers.
