Did anyone see the award presentation for today's stage winner (Dumoulin in to Nantes)? A protester got on stage, and stood in front of Dumoulin. Bernard Hinault quickly jumped in to action and shoved the cretin off the stage! :lol:

Perhaps the protester should have studied history a bit better. When Hinault was racing in the late 70's or early 80's, some protesters blocked the road during a race. At the time Hinault wasn't afraid to go face to face and throw a few punches with the protesters. The one from today got off lucky with just a push in the back!

http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/files/images/badger.jpg

Photo from VeloNews.com (http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/79543/andrew-hood-s-tour-de-france-notebook-stage-3).

Wow, Ivan Basso has let himself go over the last two years. (just kidding)

When Hinault was racing in the late 70's or early 80's, some protesters blocked the road during a race. At the time Hinault wasn't afraid to go face to face and throw a few punches with the protesters. The one from today got off lucky with just a push in the back!

http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/files/images/badger.jpg

Photo from VeloNews.com (http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/79543/andrew-hood-s-tour-de-france-notebook-stage-3).

Great stuff.

As Phil/Paul described it, Badger was actually on his bike and just rode directly into the protesters and had at it with them.

Where's the tape of that bit of bizness? Crazy.

Great stuff.

As Phil/Paul described it, Badger was actually on his bike and just rode directly into the protesters and had at it with them.

Where's the tape of that bit of bizness? Crazy.


Dont know if theres taped footage but he went in swinging!

Here's a YouTube video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=y6lhnlbN3zo) of the Badger in action.:roflmao:

Here's a YouTube video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=y6lhnlbN3zo) of the Badger in action.:roflmao:

Thanks for posting that, I couldn't find a clip earlier. :beer:

good to see he's still as combative as he was on the bike.
a hard man's hard man

The sad part was that the protester landed on his feet, a couple of steps down from the platform. It would have really been a classic if he'd landed on his head! :lol:

I love riders with a temper...like when Tom Steels threw his water bottle at Frederic Moncassin a few years ago. Makes for a lively tour.

Also I was a little curious about the protesters on the course too. The break seemed to get through with only a minor slowdown...I'm guessing the pack had no problem, though they didn't seem to cover it.

Hinault rules.

Wow, Ivan Basso has let himself go over the last two years. (just kidding)

:lol:

Amazing how Hinault was all smiles a few seconds later.

anyone got a picture of him punching a protester in 84 or 85 when he was riding they showed it on itv highlights last night - nothing changes !

hinault rocks

What's the protesting about this year? Seems to always be something different from Tour to Tour.

The protesters were from the trade union CGT.

There are a five workers' unions in France, CGT, CFDT, FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC.

I work in a factory and belong to FO (Force Ouvrière (http://www.force-ouvriere.fr/page_principal/gb/index.asp))

They were protesting the rise in cost of living, fuel and general dissatisfaction with Sarkozy.

They didn't intend to intefere with the race, the breakaway 4 came thru quicker than everyone expected. They did get their say in front of the cameras and Prudhomme (at least on french TV they did)

here's a video of the incident (in french)

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/hinault/video/x61uog_hinault-simple-flic_music