Tour de France from the back

Some TdF commentary (not by me):

Stage 10

It's official: Lanterne Rouge [the last-placed rider] fever has swept France. With
Jean-Patrick Nazon challenging for the overall victory, the
french are overjoyed. Everywhere you go frenchmen on bikes
are staggering up hills and being passed by foreigners laden
with paniers.

The mania has created quite a problem for race organizers.
Rider complaints have been pouring in about race interference
by the so-called Nazon hooligans. A typical complaint was made
by Frederic Bessy, currently in fifth place, who detailed an
assault. "I had just expended nearly the last of my energy and
was preparing to shift down and gain time the false flat when
three large goons dressed in the French Tricolore jumped off
the side of the road. I tried to tell them I was also french;
but before I could make them understand, they had already
pushed me at least forty meters up the slope."

Despite the complaints the stage to Courcheval went off
relatively okay. It did not produce the fireworks some had
expected. Karsten Kroon of the Netherlands, a country known
for producing great climbers, led a pack of fifty riders across
the finish. Nazon was right on his wheel and finished second.
The current leader, Iker Flores, finished safely in the pack.
He continues to hold his lead of 8:34.

The top three positions remained the same. The aforementioned
Bessy dropped from fourth to fifth place, possibly sped up by
his encounter with the hooligans.

As a side note, the wrong end of the peloton saw some action of
its own. Lance Armstrong took over the yellow jersey of shame.
Few analysts were surprised as his team is, perhaps, the weakest
in the race.