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considered his French rival, Roger Lapébie, had been punished too lightly for being towed uphill by car. In 1950 the two Italian teams went home after the leader of the first team, Gino Bartali, thought a spectator had threatened him with a knife. In 1950 much of the field got off their bikes and ran into the Mediterranean at Ste-Maxime. The summer had been unusually hot and some riders were said to have ridden into the sea without dismounting. All involved were penalised by the judges. In 1966 riders went on strike near Bordeaux after drugs tests the previous evening. In 1968 journalists went on strike for a day after Félix Lévitan had accused them of watching "with tired eyes", his response to the writers' complaint that the race was dull. In 1978 they rode slowly all day and then walked across the line at Valence d'Agen in protest at having to get up early to ride more than one stage in a day. In 1982 striking steel workers halted the team time trial. In 1987 photographers went on strike, saying cars carrying the Tour's guests were getting in their way. In 1988 the race went on strike in a protest concerning a drugs test on Pedro Delgado. In 1990 the organisers learned of a blockade by farmers in the Limoges area and diverted the race before it got there. In 1991 riders refused to race for 40 minutes because a rider, Urs Zimmerman,
was penalised for driving from one stage finish to the start of the next instead of flying. In 1991 the PDM team went home after its riders fell ill one by one within 48 hours. In 1992 activists of the Basque separatist movement bombed followers' cars overnight. In 1998 the race stopped in protest at what the riders saw as heavy-handed investigation of drug-taking allegations. In 1998 the Festina team was disqualified after revelations of organised doping within the team. In 1999 demonstrating firemen stopped the race and pelted it with stink bombs.