It's just not Julian Dean's Tour is it? Not only was he on the end of a headbutt from Cav's minder Mark Renshaw, he's also been rugby tackled by a policeman! This comes after he was famously shot during last years Tour! If I was Julian Dean, I'd stay clear of France next year.
You just couldn't make stories like this up. New Zealand sprinter Julian Dean was crash-tackled by a French policeman while warming up for Tuesday's 16th stage of the Tour de France. The policeman apparently thought that Dean was an errant spectator and brought him to the ground with a full blown rugby tackle while he was riding up the Col de Peyresourde. Deans bike was damaged too and the policeman cut his hand, but the incident didn't end there. As Dean got to his feet, the policeman then tried to restrain him and stopped him from riding back down the hill to the team bus.
In another incident, Australian Mark Renshaw was thrown off the Tour for headbutting Dean and obstructing star sprinter Tyler Farrar. Renshaw claimed that the headbutt was in response to Dean elbowing him during the sprint. Tour officials are sticking to their guns though and are not allowing Renshaw the benefit of an appeal. HTC Columbia claimed that Dean should also have carried some blame for his role in the incident.
For Dean, it is another strange anecdote from the Tour De France. In last years event he was shot by someone in the crowd with an air-pellet gun. Despite his hand being swollen and in excrutiating pain, Dean carried on to finish the Tour. A week after the tour, surgeons discovered some of the pellet was still embedded in his finger.
This years Tour has certainly had its moments of controversy. Tempers flared at the end of Stage 6 resulting in a bizarre fight. Spanish cyclist Carlos Barredo attacked the Portugese rider Rui Costa with a bike wheel immediately after crossing the finish line and the two exchanged limp punches and girly slaps until they both fell off and got tangled up in Costa's bike.
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