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Froome leads tributes to Nice attack victims

Mark MeadowsJuly 15, 2016

The Tour de France leader posts photo of French flag after Nice attack, which killed at least 84 people. The race, which is also currently taking place in southern France, will continue but with increased security.

https://p.dw.com/p/1JPHF
Frankreich Tour de France 2016 Impressionen Etappe 1 - 12 Froome zu Fuß
Image: Reuters/J.-P. Pelissier

The 2013 and 2015 winner from Britain has France close to his heart and echoed the sentiments of the entire peloton when he tweeted his condolences.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme said the three-week race would go on but there would be a minute's silence on the podium for the victims in Nice as well as at the start of stage 13.

France had been on high alert over potential terrorism following November's attacks in Paris which killed 130.

Security was high for the month-long Euro 2016 football championship just staged in the country, which passed without incident. The Tour was another potential target. But it was the Bastille Day firework celebrations in Nice which were hit.

The Tour is bound to see extra security checks from now on although it is a difficult event to police with fans lining the roads for hundreds of kilometers.

Froome had to deal with an incident on Thursday's 12th stage when he was involved in a collision with other riders and a motorbike, which had been held up because of spectators on the route. Froome's bike was broken and he had to jog part of the way before getting a new bike.

The Briton has criticized Tour security in the past.