What should be done about idiotic spectators?

[RedheadDane]

Force them to ride up the mountain where they acted like morrons (so Zoncolan for the idiot who pushed Bongiorno) on a bike from the early 20th Century while a bunch of people are standing on the side and hitting them with branches!

 

[SergeDeM]

There should be fences all they way up, not just for the final km. People shouldn't be on the road. Being five meters away from the riders is still much closer than on any other sport, even more so considering that nobody has to pay. Just make believe you're watching a Rally.

 

[Escarabajo]

Was it that cold in July?

 

[Le breton]

I think my first Tour stage was 1980. Been to dozens of Vuelta/Giro/Tour stages since. It has gotten much worse. Yeah, things were bad in the Armstrong years. The French hated him and goofy Americans would flood the climbs but roadside at last years Tour was the worst I have seen it. Zero respect for the riders, in fact for many there was open contempt. Maybe I am wrong but I do not remember such strong Pro/Con emotions.
......

In the 80's the crowds were still mostly French (except maybe on Alpe d'Huez and occasionally near Spain). In those days, when i would climb a mountain pass in the Alps until I reached a suitable spot, I would hear the stupid comments of the minority of dumb-@sses that knew nothing about cycling and were there just for the wine and saucisson sec.

Now those people are outnumbered by foreigners and much more subdued or absent. I don't hear the stupid remarks anymore. Last year on the Semnoz I was surprised by the variety of national origins among the spectators.

My guess is that the ridiculous British soccer fans must now outnumber the goofy Americans among the most troublesome elements. It's just a guess.

As for "the French" hating Armstrong, i don't know about that. He was seen as unreachable, aloof maybe, but not hated that I could see. He had, unfortunately, a lot of doubly-blind supporters in the country, not least among the media and A.S.O.

In his days LeMond was almost universally liked.

Zero respect for the riders, in fact for many there was open contempt. Maybe I am wrong but I do not remember such strong Pro/Con emotions.

I am afraid this might be a worldwide trend.
Maybe, in the future, the sane fans will have to police the roadsides.

 

[Pricey_sky]

My guess is that the ridiculous British soccer fans must now outnumber the goofy Americans among the most troublesome elements. It's just a guess.

.

Wow that's a very nice stereotype to make, In my opinion most of the diehard football fans over here don't really like cycling, plus they are nothing compared to some of the Italian and Spanish football 'ultra's'. I have family that live in Naples and going to watch Napoli play is real experience with their fans! Not all bad though I must say. Let's not forget there's a world cup on this summer too that will clash with le tour.

 

[Race Radio]

My guess is that the ridiculous British soccer fans must now outnumber the goofy Americans among the most troublesome elements. It's just a guess.

As for "the French" hating Armstrong, i don't know about that. He was seen as unreachable, aloof maybe, but not hated that I could see. He had, unfortunately, a lot of doubly-blind supporters in the country, not least among the media and A.S.O.

In his days LeMond was almost universally liked.

Good post. You are correct, I misspoke. For all of the talk of the French disliking Lance I never saw it. Certainly saw it from some Germans though. Greg was always well received, even when he was beating Fignon.

I was at 5 stages last year and yes the most vocal were the British. That might have been just coincidence but in some cases it was very aggressive. It seems that some of the fans have less respect for the riders these days. Perhaps it is from all the controversies over the last 20 years but I was surprised to some groups aggressively targeting some riders. Contador and Valverde of course but Froome was "Favorite" of the "Haters".

It is only a matter of time before someone really steps over the line

 

[purcell]

There should be fences all they way up, not just for the final km. People shouldn't be on the road. Being five meters away from the riders is still much closer than on any other sport, even more so considering that nobody has to pay. Just make believe you're watching a Rally.

You think there should be 11 km of fencing on both sides of the road??

Who exactly do you think is paying for said 22 km of fencing? Give your heads a shake folks. If you want to kill the sport because the organizers can't afford to put it on, then have at it ....

 

[karlboss]

Are there any other cases such as these of contenders for stage and GC being pushed whilst still in contention, nay still on the wheel of the rider infront? That was what I couldn't believe.

 

[wannabecyclist]

there was a hilarious occurrence last year where one of those retards was running along side a rider at touching distance until another spectator tripped him, anyone remember where that was?

It was last year's Tour De France. Can't remember the stage. It was hilarious!

 

[Pricey_sky]

It was last year's Tour De France. Can't remember the stage. It was hilarious!

Wasn't it someone chasing Tejay? It was absolutely brilliant. I think its this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ls3NxXSb1K0

 

[Granville57]

Does anybody have links to videos of the the fan that messed up Bongiorno and Poels tossing the guys sunglasses? Would like to get a better look.

The Bongiorno "push."
https://vine.co/v/MpB66UIBZej

 

[Granville57]

I was at 5 stages last year and yes the most vocal were the British. That might have been just coincidence but in some cases it was very aggressive. <snip>

Froome was "Favorite" of the "Haters".

You're not saying that Froome was the target of Brit fans, are you?

 

[Granville57]

Wasn't it someone chasing Tejay? It was absolutely brilliant. I think its this one:

Pretty amazing that that incident was captured from different angles. But it does point to one obvious problem with vigilante justice: It will likely lead to even more mayhem. The clown that gets tripped up is oblivious to the fact that he brought it upon himself, but is predictably angry and primed for a confrontation. The last thing we need is fan violence spilling out onto the road.

I do agree that interference with the riders should be a punishable offense. Throw a few people in jail and it might send a message.

Other than that, perhaps they could corral all the offenders, put them on a plane to Dubai, and force them to stand roadside for every stage of that pointless event.

Or...



Send them to Singapore for a little "attitude adjustment."

 

[Race Radio]

You're not saying that Froome was the target of Brit fans, are you?

Yup. I was pretty surprised by it but remember clearly being on the Champs and a group of drunk English fans were spewing profanity about him. Could have been an isolated incident but I would say in general the riders are not as respected as they were in the past.

it is not just the Tour. Vino, Valverde, Wiggins, all have been booed at races

 

[Archibald]

Stop showing them on TV for starters. Too many of them are attention *****s.

Next step, self-regulation. The other spectators should gang up on them to get them to stop that ****.

For this kind of climb (and they're the only ones where this is a serious problem), fencing the whole road off or having policemen every few meters should be doable.

Pretty much this. That fans actually behave in such a way is just pathetic.
Must admit, the desire to want to trip some of those nitwits is VERY strong. The silent majority of well behaved fans should really step up to pull the idiotic minority into line.

leave the fencing out, just put some more "security" along the roadside with those shepherds crooks... or something like those lasso's on sticks they use to catch rhino's with?

the guy that ruined the stage for Bongiorno, I still saw him running and acting like an idiot even after that. How *** do you have to be to not even stop acting like a *** after you ruin the day for one of the riders. What a tool that guy is.

Even stupider was his little kiniption fit after he did it. Surely, anyone with any sense of morality would have gone straight back to Bongiorno, apologised profusely and once clipped back in, given him a running push back up to speed...
Instead, he went on to continue what he did before

 

[DirtyWorks]

Are there any other cases such as these of contenders for stage and GC being pushed whilst still in contention, nay still on the wheel of the rider infront? That was what I couldn't believe.

An Italian at any given Giro? A French rider at an older le Tour? A Spanish rider at the Vuelta?

C'mon. We've had all kinds of shenanigans far worse than an unfortunate push.

 

[karlboss]

An Italian at any given Giro? A French rider at an older le Tour? A Spanish rider at the Vuelta?

C'mon. We've had all kinds of shenanigans far worse than an unfortunate push.

Pushing not rare at all, especially as someone falls away either from the favourites or grupetto, even sometimes on the attack just infront of either group, but a running push while on the wheel of their direct competitor? Well it's a first for me, I suppose it must just be rare as where do they think they are pushing them to, apart from up the rear of the guy in front.

 

[UlleGigo]

The Giro organisers needed to barricade the last km so they could spread the 'human shield' out a bit more down the mountain.

There was a bigger proportion of morons than in previous years though this year. As the sport gets bigger its getting worse with more casual fans who just want to get there stupid moose helmet wearing head on the tv or youtube.

I think it just has to be a matter of the proper fans not getting involved and letting the organisers haul away any fan who runs alongside a riders.

Failing that each team should employ a 10th team member who is a boxer to ride up the big climbs in front of the race by say 30 minutes in faux competition. The drunk idiot fans through their idiocy will fall for the charade and identify themselves by attempting to run alongside the hired wrecking machines. The culprits can then be beaten beyond all recognition thus leaving the way clear of idiocy for the riders when they come through.

 

[Le breton]

Wow that's a very nice stereotype to make, In my opinion most of the diehard football fans over here don't really like cycling, plus they are nothing compared to some of the Italian and Spanish football 'ultra's'. I have family that live in Naples and going to watch Napoli play is real experience with their fans! Not all bad though I must say. Let's not forget there's a world cup on this summer too that will clash with le tour.

a very nice stereotype to make,

Well, is not streaking a national pastime at football games in the UK? Is not bare-@ss running among the attention seeking behaviours seen in recent years?

Anyway I wrote it was a guess, an hypothesis if you prefer.
Next TdF I'll make sure to interview them so that I can get some stats and report to you.

Anyway, back to idiots on the roadside : I want to hear what is your own take

 

[Pricey_sky]

a very nice stereotype to make,

Well, is not streaking a national pastime at football games in the UK? Is not bare-@ss running among the attention seeking behaviours seen in recent years?

Anyway I wrote it was a guess, an hypothesis if you prefer.
Next TdF I'll make sure to interview them so that I can get some stats and report to you.

Anyway, back to idiots on the roadside : I want to hear what is your own take

Well my guess is that you've stereotyped a lot of British people in to football hooligans when in actual fact like I said most of them would never go and watch cycling. That includes the moronic few who decide to streak at a match.

My thoughts are that things like what we have seen up Zoncolan are only going to get worse unless race organisers spend a lot more money on security. With money being so tight in many races this will be a problem. I am a supporter of the self policing and it was great to see someone take the law into his own hands and trip the guy up who was following Tejay last year. The only downside to this is of course the potential for fighting to breakout amongst the crowds of people. I guess without severely restricting the amount of people on the roadside things like that will always happen, especially in today's society where many folk just want a quick claim to fame.

 

[Le breton]

Well my guess is that you've stereotyped a lot of British people in to football hooligans when in actual fact like I said most of them would never go and watch cycling. That includes the moronic few who decide to streak at a match.
....

Although I know a lot of British people, have worked with them for many many years, and actually still do although officially retired, those people I know really aren't the hooligan or streaking type (Makes me laugh imagining them doing that type of thing)

Anyway, apart from that aspect of things we pretty much agree on the likely future trend and also on the possible (partial) solution of policing by the fans themselves.

 

[Lupi33]

RE: Zoncolan: BAN THE FANS...all fans should be banned from any climb of consequence from now own...they are plainly not there for the riders but for themselves.....I feel very sad for our sport when I see the intense idiocy on the course that actually impacts the ability of the competitors to ride the race unimpeded...

thats a little harsh

probably close to a million people on the zoncolan and i'd suggest most of them were well behaved. just takes a handful of idiots to F things up though and thats what is was.. a handful

i noticed no one is talking about the interference Rogers received higher up the mountain on several occasions from spectators who seemed to be trying to disrupt him deliberately. they didnt look like Italians either.

 

[Arnout]

Running with the riders is stupid. They need to figure out how to manage it. One of the problems is often the riders encourage "Assistance". They will ride close to the spectators and actually say "pousse". Last year a rider in the break clearly asked for a push, which I gave, and Marc Madiot tried to run over my foot with his car. He always has been been a a bit emotional.

Madiot is right though. Would you give doping if the rider asked for it? You shouldn't interfere in the race except maybe for pushing backmarkers on a difficult climb (which usually doesn't interfere with the race apart from making time limits). Especially not pushing a rider in the break, that's just unfair towards the other riders in the break...

Yup. I was pretty surprised by it but remember clearly being on the Champs and a group of drunk English fans were spewing profanity about him. Could have been an isolated incident but I would say in general the riders are not as respected as they were in the past.

it is not just the Tour. Vino, Valverde, Wiggins, all have been booed at races

Sorry for the stereotyping but some groups of Brits are some of the loudest and most obnoxious people you will ever encounter. It's the same when they come to "visit" the Netherlands.

 

[The Tibetan Hat]

All things considered, the cost of extra barriers and policing, the draconian effects and questionable lawfulness of any sort of ban/fine, it seems to me the only solution that's plausible is for the route planners to take this problem into account when deciding the route. The forecast for major problems with the fans could have been forecast as soon as it was announced that the Zoncolan would be the final climb on the penultimate stage, of effectively the last race day, that was always bound to concentrate all the idiots in one place at the same time. Such hyperbolic race planning has got to influence the behaviour of these people, it's an invitation for trouble.
Put the same stage in the middle of the second week, would the same problems occur? It's perhaps notable these issues aren't so prevalent at the TdF, which is a bigger race, perhaps because traditionally it has the ITT before Paris instead of a insane mountain stage, both defusing the frenzy and allowing tighter control of the crowds.

Oh, what's more, let's face it, this year the Zoncolan was a non-event race-wise anyway, everything was already well wrapped up, Reason two for switching it around to an early point the next time the Giro goes up there.

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Another factor is the steepness of the climb. It slows the riders to a pace that idiots have far more time to interfere by running alongside (since the steeper it gets the closer bike and running speed become).

Are climbs that steep actually necessary? Seems to provide a rather dull spectacle to me and reduces the contest to W/kg only and lessens the tactical battle.