Chris Froome had a cup of urine thrown at him during stage 14 and fellow Team Sky rider Richie Porte was reportedly spat on by a crowd member.
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In fact, rather than the actual cycling the aspect of the race I most enjoyed was seeing the gradual unfolding of the lovely French landscape, which remains unrivalled for its splendour out of all the countries I have ever visited.
It couldn’t be any other way, of course – the very nature of cycle racing is that the contestants do nothing other than cycle and, in a three-week event like the Tour de France, we could hardly expect the whole thing to be one long sprint jam-packed with desperate attempts to overtake and a thrilling succession of lead changes.
The 24-year-old earned his first ever Tour stage victory on Thursday after a bold solo break with nearly 40km to ride.
Peraud also crashed heavily and never looked close to finding his best form again while Bardet and Pinot, now 10th and 16th overall, have frequently gone on the attack but are not in the hunt for the yellow jersey this time.
I was okay for the first seven or eight kilometres of climbing but when Astana lit it up about 10km from the top it all went bananas and I had nothing left to follow them.
The Dane has caught the eye this Tour too, notably nursing Nibali on several stages, as well as finishing second 48 hours later on Plateau de Beille.
The 30-year-old Briton appeared to struggle but limited his losses to second-place Nairo Quintana, who repeatedly attacked but couldn’t fully erase his 2 minute, 38 second deficit to Froome.
At the front of the race, Romain Bardet dropped Rolland and was joined by victor Anacona (Movistar) near the top of the Col du Glandon before leaving the Colombian behind on the descent.
The climb made its debut in the 112-year-old race in 1952, and Saturday’s 20th stage marks its 29th appearance since then.
“The reality is that the race is dictating otherwise”, Unzue said.
Quintana entered the day 3 minutes, 10 seconds behind Froome, while Valverde was 59 seconds slower.
This is the fourth time bikes have been checked for motors in this year’s Tour de France, but none have been found.
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While a few breakaway riders jumped out early, the peloton took a leisurely pace with two gargantuan climbs ahead: The Croix de Fer pass and the fabled Alpe d’Huez at the end of a 110.5 kilometer (68.6 mile) ride from Modane Valfrejus.
