Chris Froome Tackled Off Bike by Police at Tour de France

From Bicycling

Every Tour de France has its moments of tension and hostility, and the 2018 edition is no exception. Fan interference caused Vincenzo Nibali to crash, fracture his vertebrae, and drop out of the race after Stage 12. Some spectators have taken swings at Chris Froome and booed his Sky teammate Geraint Thomas, who has held the overall lead since Stage 11 and looks well on his way to winning his first Tour, off the podium.

But some of the most unnerving incidents have come on the part of officials tasked with keeping riders safe. On Tuesday, French police accidentally tear gassed the peloton while trying to rein in a protest happening near the stage route.

A day later, an overzealous police officer tackled Froome off his bike in what appears to have been a case of mistaken identity.

Froome had a disappointing Stage 17, losing time to Thomas and dropping from second place to third in the overall standings. At the end the Tour’s second day in the Pyrenees, he donned a rain jacket and started cycling down from the summit finish on the Col de Portet, heading back to the Sky team bus.

That’s when the officer spotted him and called on him to stop. When Froome didn’t, the gendarme knocked the four-time Tour winner from his bike.

A reporter for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf caught the aftermath on video:

Later, the officer said he had mistaken Froome for an amateur, one of many enthusiastic but unauthorized fans who ride up the Tour route to catch a glimpse of their favorite riders. Luckily, Froome wasn’t hurt and started Stage 18 on Thursday.

“It was a misunderstanding,” a Team Sky spokesperson told reporters. “Chris is fine.”

But he wasn’t too happy, as evidenced by this heated exchange after the incident:

('You Might Also Like',)

• The 26 Best Cycling Movies of All Time

• The Benno Ballooner 8i Is a Comfortable and Sporty Urban Treat

• 7 Things You Should Do After Every Rainy Ride