A woman suspected of causing the large crash on Tour de France stage 1, by standing into the road holding a cardboard sign, has been arrested by the police in France.
According to French news network RTL the woman has been taken into custody in Landerneau, a town in the west of France.
She was arrested after prosecutors opened a criminal
inquiry into allegations of ‘deliberately violating safety regulations and so
causing injuries that might prevent someone working for up to three months’.
That offence, on conviction, carries a sanction of up to one year imprisonment and a fine of up to €15,000.
The person who caused the crash stood slightly into the road with about 45km to go on Saturday's stage 1 holding a cardboard sign that read “Allez Opi Omi”. It appears to be a mix of German and French and means ‘Go Grandma Grandpa’.
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The woman was trying to get on TV at the time and had her back turned to the approaching bunch, which was packed tightly across the narrow road. Tony Martin (Jumbo Visma) hit the woman from behind and a very large number of riders crashed as a result.
Landerneau gendarmerie – the police force in the area where the crash occurred, after the Saint-Rivoal climb in Saint-Cadou - issued a statement on Saturday confirming their inquiry had already begun. And it appealed for people to identify the woman involved.
More to come.
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