Competitors often find themselves hindered by fans who run alongside them, or stand in the road, peering at the image on their digital cameras and unaware of the speed of the approaching riders. On Friday afternoon, however, a different sort of threat emerged when two competitors – Julian Dean of New Zealand and Oscar Freire of Spain – were hit by pellets from an air gun as they climbed the Col du Bannstein, near the end of stage 13 from Vittel to Colmar. Dean suffered a grazed index finger, while Freire had a pellet removed from his thigh.
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