Marc Hirschi of the UAE Emirates team receives medical treatment after his fall during the first stage of the Tour de France.
(WAB NEWS) – The woman who allegedly held a sign that crashed dozens of cyclists during the first stage of the Tour de France last Saturday has been identified and is being questioned by police, the Brest prosecutor’s office told CNN. The accident occurred 45 kilometers from the finish line of the first stage of Saturday’s race, from Brest to Landerneau, when a spectator on the side of the road raised a large sign that caused the accident.
It is not known what he meant by the sign, which read “ALLEZ OPI-OMI!” in French and German, which translates to “Let’s go grandparents!”
RELATED
According to the video of the race on Saturday’s incident, the poster struck the German cyclist Tony Martin, who was pedaling almost at the head of the group. Martin fell, resulting in the subsequent fall of dozens of cyclists behind him.
The cyclists fell in droves and the crash left bicycles and bodies tangled in the road. The crash delayed the race for several minutes.
Italy’s Kristian Sbaragli (left) and Frenchman Bryan Coquard (right) lie on the ground after crashing during the first stage of the Tour de France.
The gendarmes of the Finisterre region had issued a notice on Facebook to locate the spectator who, apparently, had left the place before their arrival.
On Sunday, the Finisterre gendarmerie announced the opening of a judicial investigation for “involuntary injuries with incapacity not exceeding three months for deliberate breach of an obligation of security or prudence.”
The woman could face two years in prison and a fine of US $ 35,000, according to the Brest Prosecutor’s Office.
The early stages of this year’s Tour have been marred by a series of crashes.
On Tuesday, during stage four, the peloton stopped the race for about a minute in a silent protest for safer racing conditions.
The cyclists then covered the next 10 kilometers very slowly.
