Originally Posted by Keith99

At least 2 and in both those cases a major impact on the Tour. Both involving riders with far better overall results than Armstrong.

1950: Another controversial Tour saw Bartali punched to the ground and threatened with a dagger on the Col d'Aspin. He got up to win the stage, and then withdrew, with all his teammates, claiming their lives were in danger. (All teams were national teams at that time. Italy had 2 teams, both withdrew all riders).

1975: Merckx was assaulted by a fan, losing at least close to a minute on the stage. He also suffered from a seperate injury that made it difficult (or impossible) to eat solid food. He still finished second in all 3 major competitions.

EDIT: More recently a rider was accosted by fans in hte Giro and disqualified for punching one of those fans. Drawn a blank on his name, but not an also ran, one of the co favorites that year and a previous winner.