Originally Posted by mel_drew:
“How many police, and how much force, would it take to keep the fans off the great mountain stages? Won't ever happen. The most they could do would be to barrier further down the hill, and even that's unlikely.”
The safety and "fairness" of the race should be paramount at all times.
We want to see the best riders competing under fair and just conditions, with no outside elements, such as fans interfering with the race, doing so.
If it means changing some of the stages, or doing something different, then so be it.
Fans should not be able to be close enough to touch the riders, or to throw urine over them, that should not be anything that should ever be acceptable.
Would it be right and acceptable to see the fans running alongside Mo Farrah in his races, or pushing his competitors, no it wouldn't, do why on earth is it acceptable here??
The race should be about seeing which racer is best, not which racer can be the lucky one in not getting into a tangle with the fans.
The UCI need to have a long hard look at themselves, and do something about the idiotic fans that populate these stages.