Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) has spoken out about the behaviour of fans at last month´s Tour de France, where a spectator caused the crash on Alpe d´Huez that left him with a broken vertebra and forced him to abandon the race. Nibali appeared to be brought down when his bike was hooked by the strap of a spectator´s camera. The incident took place on a stretch of road where visibility had been reduced by the release of a flare. Nibali´s Bahrain-Merida team have said that they are considering legal action against Tour organisers ASO for failing to manage the crowds on Alpe d´Huez. On the climb, another spectator stepped into the road to hit Chris Froome (Team Sky) as he rode past. `In some circumstances, cycling has become a circus,` Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport, as he steps up his training so he can ride the Vuelta a Espana. `There must be fans, but like that isn´t good. People drink too much, they`re doing anything just to appear on TV. With people in the middle of the road, often with flags, we´re riding blind, without being able to see where we´re going and praying to heaven that the road opens up in front of us.ADVERTISEMENT `The team and I paid heavily for this situation, because 70 per cent of a team´s visibility comes at the Tour. Beyond the damage to your health, economically, what is the value of the damage suffered? `Also - and he never complains - but does it seem right to you that Froome came to be hit while he was doing his job? He took a blow just before my crash. All too often, we´re riding in crazy situations.` Despite his injury, Nibali remounted and completed the stage to L`Alpe d`Huez, almost regaining contact with the yellow jersey group within sight of the line to maintain his fourth place on general classification. That night, however, an x-ray in Grenoble confirmed a fracture of the T10 vertebra and Nibali was forced to abandon the Tour de France. The Vuelta and the World Championships
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