Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has condemned the actions of protestors who forced stage 16 of the race to be temporarily stopped after riders suffered the effects of tear gas used by police to clear the road.
Race leader Geraint Thomas, his Sky team-mate Chris Froome, world champion Peter Sagan and Australia's Simon Clarke were among those affected as the race was stopped for 15 minutes.
Farmers had blocked the road with hay bales 29km into the 218km stage from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon, and police used tear gas when tackling the protestors in an effort to clear a path.
That gas was still in the air when the peloton arrived on the scene, with several riders requiring medical treatment to clear their eyes and throats.
Prudhomme says it was irresponsible to further endanger the riders as he pointed to dramatic crashes suffered during the stage by Philippe Gilbert and Adam Yates, who both went down on descents while leading the race in separate incidents.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"Do not add to danger for the cyclists," Prudhomme said.
"Their field is the road, the road is open - we cannot lock them in a swimming pool or a stadium or in a tennis court. They must be respected, they take enough risks for their job.
"Many representatives of the agricultural world have clearly criticised and condemned this intolerable action. Leave the road to the riders, respect them."
Froome said he was grateful that the race had been neutralised to allow riders to recover.
"My throat, nose and eyes were burning afterwards, but I think quite a lot of riders were in a similar situation," the four-time Tour winner said.
"Thankfully the effects didn't last long but temporarily everything was stinging and burning but it wore off pretty quickly."
Though farmers' protests and other such incidents are nothing new at the Tour, this year there is already a heightened tension regarding race security.
Froome was jostled and spat at on Alpe d'Huez, while 2014 winner Vincenzo Nibali saw his race ended after he was brought down in a tangle with a fan on the same mountain.
The incident came at the start of a stage which was won by Julian Alaphilippe, who had been chasing Yates when the Lancastrian crashed just 6.5km from the finish.
