Angry Sky boss Dave Brailsford takes aim at Tour spectators

Ian Parker

Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford took aim at Tour de France spectators who have jostled and spat at his riders this week, warning them to respect the world’s best cyclists.

It is nothing new for Sky to face hostility in France, but the atmosphere has been even darker this year in the wake of Chris Froome’s salbutamol case, in which he was cleared to ride just days before the Tour began.

That verdict has not been accepted by many fans and contributed to scenes which saw Froome slapped and spat at on Alpe d’Huez, and doused with an unidentified liquid on Saturday’s stage to Mende.

Brailsford said he could not understand why the team only get this reaction in France, given Froome rode and won the Giro d’Italia in May while his case was still open.

“It just seems to be a French thing,” he said.

Like a French cultural thing. I’m not sure they’d have liked their football players being spat at in Russia (at the World Cup).

“But it’s OK to spit on us and on our staff... The Tour de France is promoted as the world’s greatest annual sporting event and, if you want the best international riders to come to your country, maybe treat them with a little more respect.”

Sky’s Tour was not helped by one of their own over the weekend, when Italian rider Gianni Moscon was disqualified from the race for striking Frenchman Elie Gesbert of Fortuneo-Samsic just 800 metres into Sunday’s stage of the race.

It is just the latest disciplinary mis-step from Moscon, who was suspended for six weeks last year after racially abusing rider Kevin Reza.

Froome meanwhile set up a fascinating final week of the Tour by insisting he is willing to sacrifice a record-equalling fifth title to help Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas win instead.

Thomas and Froome sit first and second in general classification, with Thomas one minute and 39 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who has just an 11-second cushion to Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin.

Three big stages in the Pyrenees await — today’s run to Bagneres du Luchon, Wednesday’s potentially explosive 65km dash to the summit of the Col du Portet, and Friday’s brutal stage to Laruns, which includes three-quarters of the so-called ‘Circle of Death’—- the Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque.