jitteringjr said:It was German fans that gave Lance the finger and spat at him. It was German fans that heckled Jens Voight (a German) on L'Alpe d'Huez after he came back to help his own teammate hold second place against Ullrich the day before.
To top things off, did anyone see the idiot running with the German flag and getting in the way to the leaders on the Col de la Croix Fry only to have Kloden (a German) slug him and push him out of the way?
As an American, some of my most respected and admired riders are Germans: Jan Ullrich, Jens Voight, and Erik Zabel. So I ask, "Where is the love?"
Good POINT! My wife doesn't follow the TDF at all but I bore her everyday with race updates. I was telling her today regarding unruly fans at L'Alpe d'Huez and she for the first time was actually interested. We discussed it in some length and optimistically hoped that it was alcohol induced. Also optimistically, we hoped it was just because they don't think LA is a great rider... Realistically though, we agree that it's not just LA they were booing at. It's booing at us as Americans in some degree. I've visited Europe many times and have been well received but after this incident, I wonder what they really think of us behind our backs.
Imagine, if they can boo, spit, etc at LA, what do they think of normal citizens such as ourselves? Now let's not go German bashing because again this was isolated within a bike race but it does make you think. I know my wife was surely disappointed and compared them to Philly Eagles fans. Come on... you know it... Eagles fans are roudy!
Nicholas
