I am brand new to road cycling, but I've followed the tour for the last few years.
I'm not certain it was a case of disrespect, as much as it might be one of distraction and cluelessness... I'm not certain how it was announced (I missed the coverage of that particular moment) but I am certain all the riders knew when and how it was going to be done, whereas 95% of the fans present probably did not. I can't tell you how many times I've been caught at a sporting event saying to myself "Oh [censored]! they're playing the National Anthem!" and then shutting up... But who knows if a camera was on me while I was yakking away before I clued in... maybe the same happened during the much shorter period of silence at the stage start that day.
With the cascade of emotion surging, particularly around the start, its easy to watch on TV and say "Quiet down!" or "Move away from the riders!" but quite a different thing when you are there in person and feeling the emotions...
I felt the same thing when I first saw Lance Armstrong in San Francisco. You just wanted to shout and get closer with everyone else...
I don't really think that the fans were purposefully showing any disrespect, it was just being caught up in the moment, and their cheering and chanting afterwards in itself was a show of respect for the riders in the biggest bike race in the world... Its that kind of powerful, intense emotion, that at one time trips one up when one should be silent, and at the same time makes the TdF such an amazing world event...
Not meaning any offense to you, but I think that Lauri Aus would have completely understood and is probably cheering and chanting for the riders himself right now 🙂
Feanor
