Professional Cycling For the Fans - Dean and Freire shot at on stage 13

Anyone hear anything else about this?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/freire-dean-shot-at-during-tour-stage

Marty

not cool

could you cut and paste the article please...im blocked here at work. :mad:

Freire, Dean shot at during Tour stage
Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Julien Dean (Garmin-Slipstream) were hit by lead pellets fired from an air rifle during Friday's stage 13 at the Tour de France. Neither rider was seriously injured and both plan to start in Saturday's fourteenth stage.
Three shots were heard as the peloton were descending, 165km into Friday's stage. Freire and Dean were hit, with the third shot luckily missing any member of the peloton.
Both teams confirmed the incident. “Oscar [Freire] was shot in the leg but he is okay,” Rabobank spokesman Luuc Eisenga told Cyclingnews. “Just the thought of it is very frightening.”
Eisenga said that the team was reporting the incident to the French gendarmerie.
After the stage, Rabobank team doctor Dion van Bommel removed a lead pellet from the three-time former World Champion's thigh. “He was very cool, but that is Oscar,” van Bommel said. “In the femur, such a pellet can cause little damage, but if it had hit Oscar in the eye, he would be blinded. I think this is outrageous, and I've never experienced anything like it in my career.”
Garmin team manager, Jonathan Vaughters, told Cyclingnews: “[Julien] Dean was hit in the index finger. I think this is an issue for the police. It's a bit sad that this happened. The tour has remained open to the public because we trust them. It would be horrible to erode that trust.”

On a descent no less. Glad they didn't end up biting it.

If they catch the ahole that did this...put him atop Ventoux on a bike with no brakes and push him down...after duct taping his hands and feet to the bike.

If they catch the ahole that did this...put him atop Ventoux on a bike with no brakes and push him down...after duct taping his hands and feet to the bike.


that would be way to nice, IMO

Oscar mola mogollón.

http://nl.tinypic.com/player.php?v=28hl5iu&s=3

Wow! That is f-ing terrible. There is no place for this senseless violence in sport. I hope they catch the guy and lock his ass up for a long time.

Wow! That is f-ing terrible. There is no place for this senseless violence in sport. I hope they catch the guy and lock his ass up for a long time.

+1

How long until the roadside isn't open to spectators, if this kind of stuff isn't nipped in the bud, pronto?

Great... A three-time World Champion and one of Tyler Farrar's leadout men are shot, yet that annoying doofus in the antler / longhorn helmet is still running around freely. Sometimes there's no justice in the world! :crash:

Hey, Greg LeMond's brother-in-law wasn't around, was he? :rolleyes:

+1

How long until the roadside isn't open to spectators, if this kind of stuff isn't nipped in the bud, pronto?

Jonathon Vaughters seemed to hint at a similar idea, but I doubt it could be enforced.

+1

How long until the roadside isn't open to spectators, if this kind of stuff isn't nipped in the bud, pronto?

Unfortunately this type of behavior isn't entirely new. In the 1975 Tour de France, a fan punched Eddy Merckx (http://www.cyclingrevealed.com/Mar06/top25-7.htm) in the kidney while he was climbing the Puy de Dome. In the 2004 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong received death threats before the time trial up Alpe d'Huez. He was followed up the mountain by armed guards (http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200507/lance-armstrong-book-5.html). A threat had also been made against him at the Tour in 2003. A few years ago (I forget exactly when), someone dispersed some tear gas or mace in to the peloton. Hopefully this shooter is just another blip on the radar, rather than the start of a trend.

From the video it appears to be a BB, not a lead pellet as some reports have said. No less painful though.

The roadside will never be closed to spectators, otherwise you won't have a TDF. The hint of closing the route to spectators is over-reaction . . . typically American. Yes, I'm American, so I know of what I speak.

Oscars reaction on the video is rather matter-of-fact.

If they catch the ahole that did this...put him atop Ventoux on a bike with no brakes and push him down...after duct taping his hands and feet to the bike.

Make it a fixed gear while you're at it...

kids
arrested

kids
arrested

torture is acceptable IMO.

torture is acceptable IMO.

+1 for torture

The roadside will never be closed to spectators, otherwise you won't have a TDF. The hint of closing the route to spectators is over-reaction . . . typically American. Yes, I'm American, so I know of what I speak.



Must be because there are way fewer lawyers per capita in France than the U.S. ;)

An incident like that in a U.S. tour, and the lawsuits would fly, so fear of liability drives the rider/fan security pretty quickly.

What are you going to do? Put fencing up for 200 K every day?

The fact is these spectator incidents are relatively rare.

And what about the dog? Maybe it was an animal-rights activist?






The French police report that they've arrested some kids ("enfants" - which could be anything up to 18, I think). If that is true, it's probably the last we'll ever here of it.

What are you going to do? Put fencing up for 200 K every day?

The fact is these spectator incidents are relatively rare.

http://search.mywebsearch.com/mywebsearch/AJimage.jhtml?searchfor=fencing

Combining fencing with cycling has been done. I just found that China's national cycling and fencing programs are a combined organization. Cool fencers on wheels. :thumb: Le Tour velojousting. :roflmao2:

http://search.mywebsearch.com/mywebsearch/AJimage.jhtml?searchfor=bike%20jousting