LAVAL, France —The spectator who caused a massive pile-up during the first stage of the Tour de France has been arrested after presenting herself at a police station, a source close to the investigation said Wednesday.
The spectator, a 30-year-old French woman, is in custody at a police station in Landerneau, Brittany, the northwest French region where the Tour de France, the world’s biggest cycling event, held its first four stages.
The spectator is accused of involuntarily causing injury and putting the life of others at risk.
On Saturday, German cyclist Tony Martin was sent tumbling when he rode straight into a cardboard sign being held out by a fan looking the other way at a television camera, creating chaos with around 30 miles left of the stage.
Another huge pile-up occurred in a nervy finale on narrow roads on Monday, leading the Tour de France riders to put their collective foot down around a mile into the fourth stage on Tuesday — literally — bringing the race to a halt for about a minute in a silent protest for safer racing conditions after the crashes.
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The Tour de France normally sees thousands of fans cheer on the riders from the sidelines as they advance through the race’s grueling stages for three weeks.
With most Covid-19 restrictions lifted in France, enthusiastic fans took to the streets of picturesque villages along the route on the opening day of the race, and thousands lined the roads of the Brittany countryside.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
