Tour de France riders and directors relieved to come through protest spray incident unscathed

Riders were forced to wash their eyes with water and eye drops after a protest saw pepper spray released

Riders suffer after pepper spray filled the air during a protest on stage 16 of the Tour de France (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Fear gripped the Tour de France peloton shortly after the start of stage 16 when pepper spray used to disperse protesters drifted downwind and affected the riders.

Protesters blocked the road 30 kilometres into the 218-kilometres stage to Bagnères-de-Luchon. Near the town of Fanjeaux, farmers upset with recent EU funding cuts threw hay bails on the road. Police used pepper spray to disperse them, but the gas also reached race leader Geraint Thomas (Sky) and others in the group.

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