working

ADVERTISERS

Sports Outside the Beltway

Pot shots- At least two Tour de France riders shot by BB gun during race

No one was seriously injured. From ESPN-

At least two Tour de France riders were hit by pellets from a BB gun or similar weapon as they labored behind the main peloton near the finish of Friday’s Stage 13. Neither was seriously hurt, but the incident again illustrated the perils of conducting one of the world’s largest sporting events on the open road.

Julian Dean of New Zealand, a sprinter who rides for the Colorado-based Garmin-Slipstream team, and Oscar Freire, a Spanish sprinter for the Dutch Rabobank team, were hit on the descent of a mountain in the Vosges late in the challenging 124.2-mile stage, which unfolded in cold, heavy rain and fog. Rabobank team doctors later removed what they believed to be a lead pellet from Freire’s thigh. A pellet glanced off Dean’s right index finger, causing some bruising and bleeding.

Tour spokesman Christophe Marchadier said the race organization had asked police to investigate the incident. Both teams said they would cooperate.

Unless a sporting event is played without spectators, you can’t prevent some idiot from trying to ruin the event for his own selfish reasons.

 
Related Stories:
 
Recent Stories:
 
 
 
Comments

Comments are Closed

 
 


Visitors Since Feb. 4, 2003

All original content copyright 2003-2008 by OTB Media. All rights reserved.