This 12 months’s Tour de France began with a bang yesterday as a careless spectator held an indication in entrance of the bikers in an effort to attract the eye of the cameras, inflicting an enormous pile-up. Authorities are nonetheless looking for the girl who fled the scene earlier than investigators arrived.
The incident occurred early on Stage 1 with 45 km to go. The girl holding an indication studying “ALLEZ OPI-OMI!” (a greeting to her grandparents) blocked part of the street inflicting German biker Tony Martin (group Jumbo–Visma) to crash and fall.
Martin instructed Eurosport: “I noticed the girl however on the final second she become the street, so there was no time to react. It was actually surprising. I nonetheless can’t perceive how folks can behave like that. It is a bike race, not a circus.”
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Being one of many leaders of the pack, Martin’s fall triggered a series response with dozens of bikers crashing. In consequence, three riders withdrew from the race together with German Jasha Sutterlin (group DSM) who suffered a extreme contusion to his proper wrist. French Julian Alaphilippe (group DCI) who received the primary stage instructed Reuters: “I hope everyone seems to be okay. I’m calling on the followers to watch out.”
Race deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault instructed AFP: “We’re suing this lady who behaved so badly. We’re doing this in order that the tiny minority of people that do that received’t spoil the present for everybody.”
Gendarmerie du Finistère issued a press release calling for witnesses with a view to discover the spectator, saying {that a} judicial investigation was opened for “Unintentional accidents with incapacity not exceeding not three months by manifestly willful violation of an obligation of security or prudence”.
The crash triggered a 5-minute delay, with bikers taking 25 km to regroup after the race chief slowed down the tempo. However, this wasn’t the one incident on Stage 1 of Tour de France, as a second crash involving a number of bikers occurred 8 km earlier than the end line.