In article , Luigi de
Guzman wrote:

I'd be curious to know whether any spectator, in the hundred years of
the Tour de France, has wilfully attacked or injured a competitor with
a view to denying that competitor a stage or overall victory.

The answer is yes. In 1975 a French fan stepped out from the crowd
and punched Eddie Merckx in the kidney during a climb -- he was a fan
of Bernard Thevenet and apparently upset that the trophy was going to
leave France. Merckx had the yellow jersey at the time. The kidney
became infected and forced him to abandon, and Thevenet went on to
win. In typical Merckx fashion, after the stage we went back down
looking for they guy that hit him.

--
"Divide by cucumber error, please reinstall Universe and reboot"
-- Terry Pratchett, _Hogfather_