French police tightened security for the Tour de France after race leader Chris Froome claimed that one of the spectators threw urine at his face in the 14th stage from Rodez to Mende Saturday.
Half a dozen police officers strengthened the security around Britain's Team Sky watching over the team bus at the Stage 15 start in Mende Sunday.
According to Froome, there was a roadside spectator who splashed urine in his face while shouting "doper" in French in Stage 14. Richie Porte, one of the members of Team Sky, claimed that someone punched him while on his way up in the Pyrenees last week.
Froome has adamantly defended himself against accusations of him using performance enhancing drugs. He said he was extremely disappointed with what happened. He said that they have worked hard on what they do just for someone to disrespect them.
"That's not in the name of sport. That's not why we are here," he said.
Froome got support from Tour director Christian Prudhomme, who said that dislike among Tour leaders is common in the race, but this type of behaviour is intolerable. These kinds of disrespects from the fans also happened to winners such as Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, and more.
This only shows that this generation is suffering the consequences of the damage done by dopers in the past. One of the most infamous "dopers" is Lance Armstrong, who, after confessing, was stripped of seven victories.
It seems that no one is listening to Froome's assurance that he is clean. He said the media has something to do with it by turning public opinion against him. Being doused in liquid is common among Tour de France riders, but this time it was different - it was urine.
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