Tour leader Chris Froome left yellow-faced

Mende (France): A spectator yelling “doper!” hurled a cup of urine at Chris Froome, the Tour de France leader said, on Saturday’s Stage 14 won by fellow British rider Stephen Cummings. “That’s unacceptable on so many levels. He just sort of launched this cup toward me,” said Froome.

His teammate Richie Porte said another person, also seemingly a spectator, punched him a few days earlier on a climb in the Pyrenees. He and Froome both feel that some of the reporting about the Tour, where Froome has faced pointed questions about his dominant performance and insinuations of doping, is turning public opinion against them.

Froome, who has already proven himself to be thick-skinned, said: “I’m not going to give up the race because a few guys are shouting insults.”Generations of dopers, none more famous than Lance Armstrong, means that trust in cycling is in short supply and Froome’s repeated assurances that he is clean have fallen on deaf ears.

“This is the legacy that has been handed to us,” Froome said.Although such incidents remain rare, Froome is not the first rider in Tour history to have been doused by urine. The unpleasant incident put a dampener on a day when he extended his already comfortable race lead. Cummings got South African team MTN-Qhubeka its first win, on the day that South Africans celebrate as International Nelson Mandela Day.