Your playlist will load after this ad A fan holding a sign got too close to the riders, and caused the peloton to have a huge crash. Source: SKY
The unnamed woman, brandishing a cardboard sign on the roadside which clipped German rider Tony Martin who fell to the ground, wiped out almost the entire peloton during the first stage.
The crash held up the race for five minutes while bikes and bodies were untangled. As a result, one rider had to pull out of the Tour and another eight riders were treated for injuries.
Video footage of the incident has been shared widely online.
Woman arrested for role in Tour de France peloton pile-up
RFI
01 Jul 2021, 05:47 GMT+10
A woman whose roadside stunt during the first stage of the Tour de France between Brest and Landerneau in north-western France led to a pile-up of riders was arrested on Wednesday in Brittany.
Camille Miansoni, the state prosecutor for the city of Brest, confirmed that a suspect had been taken into custody.
The 30-year-old, who has yet to be named, is expected to be charged with causing unintentional short-term injury through a manifestly deliberate breach of a duty of safety or care.
As well as possible legal action from the race organisers, she faces a fine of up to 1,500 euros and could also be sued by the cyclists who were injured in the crash after she edged onto the race route to face the TV cameras but with her back to the advancing bunch of cyclists.
Tour de France crash: Legal action not worth disrupting the long history of fan involvement
Spectators are an integral part of the history and culture of the Tour de France.
Thursday, July 1, 2021 3:47 AM UTC
Calamity marred the opening stage of the 2021 Tour de France, with two harrowing crashes in the final 45km of the stretch from Brest to Landernau.
The second of the two was a “normal” cycling crash – one rider’s wheels clipped another, causing a mass pile up and leaving two riders unable to continue.
But it was the first incident that has been controversial due to its cause – a roadside spectator’s homemade cardboard sign. French police are now seeking the fan whose sign interfered with the race, causing German rider Tony Hans-Joachim Martin to swerve into other riders and bring down most of the peloton. The fan holding the sign that read “Allez Omi Opi!” (roughly translated as “Go Grandpa and Grandma”) left the scene, and Belgian rider Jasper Stuyven
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