Mob rule at the Tour???

I was reading the Kloden/Ulrich = Trouble thread the other day and I just looked at it again. Thankfully, mushmouth's foretelling of doom has, thus far, been just a dream.

Watching the L'Alpe D'Huez time trial this morning, I was thinking about the punch that (maybe/probably) cost Merckx his sixth Tour de France victory. I also saw all the rabid fans lining the course - Lance went so far as to mention some of these less gracious fans in one of his post-race interviews.

I can't help but think that if some fan was dumb enough to try and punch or otherwise hurt a Tour contender, like Lance, an angry mob would likely kill the perpetrator.

Maybe it's an off the wall thought; but, what do you think?

someone got punched today?

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Originally posted by tuffy109
someone got punched today?

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No, what he's talking about happened years ago.

IG, I thought it was Indurain? Anyway, I was thinking the same thing today. You could see the apprehension in Lance's face. I think he was way more worried about the fans than he was the climb.

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Originally posted by bagtagley
I thought it was Indurain?

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No, it was Merckx, aka The Cannibal:

"In 1975, he attempted to win his sixth Tour de France. A Belgian beating the record of 5 wins set by a French man Jacques Anquetil did not sit well with non athletic French spectators. He held the yellow jersey for 8 days, which brought his record to 95, but on stage 14 a spectator leapt from the crowd and punched him in the kidneys. He kept racing with a double fracture and took medications. The pain in combination with the medicine caused him to fall during the race and shake the scafolding on the podium. He eventually soon ran out of energy and lost his lead but on the last stage he showed one last sign of defiance by sprinting ahead of the peleton. He would never win the Tour de France again."



P.S. "Merckx is one of only four cyclists to have won all three of the major Tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana)."

Punch? Sheeit, I'm amazed that out of a million people, some crazy ass suicidal mofo, either arab, jew, anglo, or martian, didn't pop out and kill Lance.

Hmm, I stand corrected.

Thanks for the link, IG.

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Originally posted by InspectorGadget
No, it was Merckx, aka The Cannibal:

"In 1975, he attempted to win his sixth Tour de France. A Belgian beating the record of 5 wins set by a French man Jacques Anquetil did not sit well with non athletic French spectators. He held the yellow jersey for 8 days, which brought his record to 95, but on stage 14 a spectator leapt from the crowd and punched him in the kidneys. He kept racing with a double fracture and took medications. The pain in combination with the medicine caused him to fall during the race and shake the scafolding on the podium. He eventually soon ran out of energy and lost his lead but on the last stage he showed one last sign of defiance by sprinting ahead of the peleton. He would never win the Tour de France again."



P.S. "Merckx is one of only four cyclists to have won all three of the major Tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana)."

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thanks man. cool story.

fucking french.

I am definitely concerned for it. I think if someone tries to get in the way or does punch/knock Lance from his bike, there WILL be a ass-whoopin to follow by fans. I mentioned in another thread that I heard a lot of "boo's" today during his race, just that had me nervous.

more than boos
fakin krauts

i saw two people reach out and smack LA on the ass as he rode by, what is stopping them from reaching out and grabbing the handle bars?

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Originally posted by Woodsy
more than boos
fakin krauts

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Unbelievable

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Tour de France director Jean Marie-Leblanc admitted Wednesday that he saw fans spit at Lance Armstrong during the first-ever time trial to historic L'Alpe d'Huez.

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i like how close the fans are to the racers during the tour, but damn are there ever some drunken idiots out there. i'd like to personally lay a smack onto each one of those toold that thinks it's funny and original to run alonside the racers with a giant flag wearing nothing but their underwear. funny the first time i saw it, kina looses it's novelty after that.

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Originally posted by Woodsy
more than boos
fakin krauts

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If i was there to see that there would be a severe beating handed out.

Anyboody else notice that every moron who runs with the riders is not wearing shoes? WTF is up with that? Is this some new euro-trend like capri pants for men?

If some a-hole tried any type of physical attack on Lance or any other rider, I think that person would be beaten severly beaten quickly.

I can't imagine the atmosphere on AdH yesterday. I was at the final TT for the Vuelta a Espana in 2002 where former Postie Roberto Heras was in yellow and lost it by the end of the TT. It went through the streets of Madrid, though the Vuelta is no where near the level of the TdF, it's pretty easy to get fired up when your rider comes by, sometimes they'll sweep by inches away from the crowd. It's extremely tempting to get in those guys faces and run with them. But I would agree that most of fans who run along look like idiots.

Mix in 4 days of partying and booze and 900,000 spectators, it's amazing that the only negatives from yesterday were some Fuck Yous to the riders and some spitting, though there is no excuse for that behavior.

i think kloden pushed a guy running with a german flag out of the way during today's stage.

what's that devil-ish looking thing with the "101" pitchfork thing?

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Originally posted by dusty bottoms
what's that devil-ish looking thing with the "101" pitchfork thing?

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Are you referring to a guy dressed like the devil, if so, he has been a fixture at the tour for years.

i've seen it before, but also saw him today during the stage.

is there a story behind it, or just a weirdo?

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Originally posted by dusty bottoms
i've seen it before, but also saw him today during the stage.

is there a story behind it, or just a weirdo?

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From US Pro Cycling Website:

"The devil’s name is Didi Senft and he is from Storkow, Germany. He started following bicycle races as the Devil in 1993. At the start he just showed up at every stage on his own, but now he has sponsors that provide his funding and some of the equipment to help him tow the 20-foot bicycle that follows behind his camper car. He rarely varies his costume, though he does change his pitchfork design to match the event. This year his pitchfork has a 101. The tines indicate the number of years the Tour has been running."

I haven't seen devil dude at all this year. Is he there? Is he ill? He's not a young guy and apparently bathing isn't his strong suit.

He actually showed up at the Worlds in Hamilton when I was there and on one of the laps they picked him up in the referee's car and he hung out the window screaming at the crowd for the whole lap with the peloton following. It was pretty cool really, especially for him I'd guess.

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Originally posted by L7
I haven't seen devil dude at all this year. Is he there? Is he ill? He's not a young guy and apparently bathing isn't his strong suit.

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i've seen it before, but also saw him today during the stage.

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It's hard to say if the devil spends time on his bike. This is from 1998. RIP Il Pirato.

http://www.cnnsi.com/cycling/1998/to...g_devil_ap.jpg