Dave Brailsford has hit out at Tour de France fans for spitting at Chris Froome and booing Geraint Thomas.
The Team Sky boss said their behaviour must be ‘a French cultural thing’ as he tore into the spectators over their treatment of his riders.
Chris Froome and Welshman Geraint Thomas are currently leading the race in first and second place.
But a cloud of suspicion, surrounding Froome’s participation in particular, has marred Team Sky’s efforts to bring home a sixth Tour de France trophy in seven years.
Brailsford suggested that Tour de France supporters’ abuse of his Team Sky riders was ‘a French thing’
A spectator wearing bright green shorts tried to slap Chris Froome during the Tour de France
‘It seems to be the thing that’s done here,’ Brailsford said. ‘It just seems to be a French thing. A French cultural thing really.
‘I’m not sure they would like to have seen their (France) football players being spat at (the World Cup) in Russia.
‘I’m sure there would have been a word or two about that. But it’s okay to spit at us and our staff? It’s very, very intimidating.
‘It’s a shame, but we’re not going to let it distract us.’
On Thursday last week a chaotic finish to the ski station at Alpe d’Huez saw Froome shoved and spat at by roadside fans.
A spectator also threw a flare at the Team Sky riders during stage 13 of the race on Friday.
A lit flare was thrown into the peloton of the Tour de France late on stage 13 to Valence
A fan leaned over the barriers toward Froome and made a gesture like he was injecting his arm
Meanwhile Thomas has been booed off the podium and some of Sky’s staff have also faced abuse during the opening 15 stages.
‘During the race, it’s the responsibility of the organisers to protect the riders,’ Froome said.
Froome was initially barred from starting his title defence by organisers because of the suspicion surrounding his ‘adverse analytical finding’ for the asthma drug salbutamol at the Tour of Spain last year.
The Kenyan-born Briton had double the permitted amount of the drug in his sample when he won the race in 2017.
Yet days before the Tour, the International Cycling Union (UCI) cleared Froome to race.
Protecting his rider, Brailsford added that the Tour de France risked alienating international teams if they couldn’t control spectators.
Dave Brailsford added that he believed the French would be up in arms were their football players treated the same way
‘If you don’t want international teams to come, you can have a Tour de France for French teams. That’s the way I see it really,’ Brailsford said.
‘We’re trying to remain dignified, we’re trying to not get distracted by it.
‘I don’t think spitting and throwing things really has a base in professional sport, nor in everyday life.’
Chris Froome has won the race for the last three years running and has four titles in total having won before in 2014.
Froome has had run-ins with the French spectators in previous years. In 2015, the Brit claimed a fan had thrown urine on him during stage 14 of the race.
The last time a Frenchman won the famous race was all the way back in 1985 with Bernard Hinault’s victory.
Froome (left) and Thomas (right) are leading the race with fans angry at their perceived dominance
Geraint Thomas of Great Britain and Team Sky was booed as he took to the podium after his stage 14 win on Saturday