Kiwi knocks over Tour fan
New Zealand rider George Bennett has knocked down a spectator but still managed a top 10 finish on the ninth stage of the Tour de France.
Bennett, riding for Team Lottojumbo, finished 2min 48sec behind stage winner Tom Dumoulin, from the Netherlands. He survived a scary brush with a fan on a tight turn of the stage in the Pyrenees.
The spectator walked out in front of Bennett on the final Arcalis climb.
Bennett tried to avoid the fan, but there was some contact and the spectator fell to the ground.
It was the second spectator contact incident in consecutive days.
Chris Froome was fined by the UCI race jury for pushing away an over-enthusiastic fan on Saturday.
‘‘It’s hard to describe what it’s like riding in the Tour with all these fans. It’s awesome I love the fans, it’s what makes it what it is but I don’t think a lot of people understand how fast you’re moving,’’ Bennett told Radio Sport.
‘‘In this case it was on a righthand corner and a rider come past just in front of me then a little gap and they stepped out right in front of me...without even looking back at me.
‘‘I had half a second to react. My bars were going to hit them or my shoulder. I managed to just get my handlebars out of harm’s way.’’
Dumoulin took the ninth leg with a solo breakaway in a hailstorm on the uphill finish, a beyond-category climb.
Defending champion Chris Froome managed to retain the yellow jersey, however, eliminating several of his main rivals in the process.
‘‘That was a tough stage and the weather made it even tougher,’’ Froome said. ‘‘One minute we were pouring water over our heads and ice packs down our backs and the next minute there was ice falling from the sky.
‘‘We were just trying to ride face down so the hail didn’t hit our faces,’’ added Froome, who took the yellow jersey with a downhill attack and stage win a day earlier. ‘‘It was pretty difficult out there.’’
Dumoulin was amazed by his success on the day.
‘‘A few days ago if you said I would win maybe the hardest day in the whole Tour de France this year, I would say you were crazy,’’ said Dumoulin, who was sick last week. ‘‘But sometimes it all comes together and the legs were feeling good today.
‘‘I’m a time trialist so if I have a gap it’s difficult to close it on me,’’ he added.
Two-time champion Alberto Contador pulled out with a fever midway through the stage.
Froome crossed 11th, 6:35 behind Dumoulin, right behind fellow British rider Adam Yates and immediately ahead of top rival Nairo Quintana of Colombia.
In the overall, Froome holds a 16-second lead over Yates, with Dan Martin of Ireland third, 19 seconds behind, and Quintana fourth, 23 seconds back.
Bardet is sixth, 44 seconds behind, Van Garderen is 11th with a gap of 1:01 and Aru is 13th at 1:23.