Tour de France riders have already battled crashes, flares, and fans and dogs straying onto the road. Then on Sunday, some ne’er-do-well dumped tacks on the road and if the aim was to disrupt cycling’s biggest race, it worked, but as cyclists often do in the face of difficulty, they kept going.
Bradley Wiggins of Britain, the Queen Bee of the peloton because he is wearing the yellow jersey, drew plaudits for at least slowing the pace and waiting for defending champion Cadel Evans on stage 14.
Tour officials estimated that about 30 competitors in the peloton blew flats near the day’s steepest climb, the Mur de Peguere, as Luis Leon Sanchez led a breakaway far ahead of the trouble to win the stage. One rider crashed as a result of the tacks.
Photo: EPA
French police — who line the course route by the hundreds for crowd control each stage — were investigating the rare, if not unprecedented incident in a sport already saddled with issues from doping to crashes.
One of the great appeals of cycling — that it’s free for the fans — is equally its susceptibility. Despite organizers’ best efforts, fans with nefarious motives can disrupt cycling races and the Tour is no exception.
Wiggins, the 32-year-old leader of Team Sky hoping to become Britain’s first winner of the Tour, had luck on his side. He avoided the chaos and spent another trouble-free stage as his team controlled his main rivals to protect his yellow jersey.
Photo: Reuters
Evans, though, was caught in the havoc. He had to wait three times for help dealing with flats. He lost nearly two minutes at one point, before teammates arrived and gave the former world champion a rear wheel.
Wiggins honored cycling etiquette by not attempting to capitalize on Evans’ misfortune. He urged the peloton to slow down to allow Evans to return. Wiggins and Evans then finished in the same time, 18 minutes, 15 seconds behind Sanchez, the winner of the 191km ride between Limoux and Foix in southern France.
It was the race entree to the Pyrenees. Wiggins kept his overall lead of 2 minutes, 5 seconds over Sky teammate Christopher Froome. Vincenzo Nibali of Italy is third, 2:23 back, while Evans remains fourth, 3:19 behind.
Photo: Reuters
With only two big mountain stages remaining before the race ends in Paris on Sunday, and a long time trial in which Wiggins is expected to blow away his rivals, the British former Olympic track champion appears well set to win the three-week race, but he knows of the unforeseen hazards, such as crashes, illness or even tacks.
“What can you do? It’s something we can’t control,” Wiggins said. “There’s nothing stopping more of that sort of stuff happening. It’s sad. Those are the type of things we have to put up with as cyclists.”
From time to time, stray dogs or photograph-snapping fans get hit by speeding riders. On Friday, Wiggins was hit on the arm and sustained minor burns from a flare waved by a spectator. Three years ago, Oscar Freire and Julien Dean were hit by pellets from an air rifle.
Photo: Reuters
“We’re out there, quite vulnerable at times, very close to the public on climbs,” Wiggins said. “We’re just the riders at the end of the day and we’re there to be shot at, literally.”
Speaking on French TV, race director Jean-Francois Pescheux commended Team Sky for encouraging the peloton to not speed ahead. He said a hunt for the culprit would be difficult because thousands of fans were on the roadside.
“This could have had terrible consequences on a descent like that,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme said. “This is dangerous and stupid behavior.”
Photo: Reuters
Astana rider Robert Kiserlovski dropped out of the race after breaking his collarbone in an accident related to the tacks.
Wiggins escaped, though he had to change bikes on the final descent.
“We’re really, really lucky, nobody punctured,” Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford said. “Brad changed his bike, but no panic ... He decided to slow down a bit and not take advantage of it.”
Evans, whose chances of repeating are all but gone, lost the Vuelta a Espana three years ago after being delayed by a wheel change during the 13th stage.
“That’s the way things go in life. Karma hopefully comes around,” Evans said. “I couldn’t see [the tacks] on the road. It happened to me three times, and at crucial moments. This has happened to me before, two times in Spain, that’s why I don’t race in Spain very often, but there’s a few people that just take things too far.”
Sanchez used his time trial experience for his solo victory.
He was among a group of five riders who had broken away on the Mur de Peguere — apparently before the tacks were thrown.
The Spaniard then made a decisive move about 11km from the finish to win his fourth career Tour stage. Slovakia’s Peter Sagan, in the green jersey of the Tour’s top sprinter, finished second — 47 seconds behind. France’s Sandy Casar was third, with the same time.
Sanchez, hampered by a wrist injury during the first week, crossed himself and pointed his fingers skyward as he went over the finish line.
Sagan and two other riders escaped from the peloton after 35km during the descent after the first climb. Eight riders, including Gilbert, Casar and Sanchez, then broke away in pursuit of the trio and bridged the gap, while the stragglers caught up with the yellow jersey’s group. With none of the 11 escapees posing a threat in the overall standings, they were given the freedom to continue.
Despite rain and cooler weather, the ascent was uneventful. Wiggins’ teammates set the tempo at the front of the peloton, while the Briton’s rivals did not dare make a move.
The 15th stage is a flat 158.5km stage between Samatan and Pau, France, tailored to give the sprinters one more chance for a stage win before two very difficult mountain stages. The riders only have to negotiate three minor hills in the last third of the stage.
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