Spectator who caused Tour de France crash arrested

Organisers have threatened to sue the French woman who caused the incident

Italy's Kristian Sbaragli, left, and France's Bryan Coquard, right, lie on the ground after crashing during the first stage of the Tour de France cycling race 

A 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.

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 woman is accused of involuntarily causing injury and putting the life of others at risk after she held a large sign bearing the words “ALLEZ OPI-OMI!” (meaning 'come on grandpa-gradma') in the path of the oncoming cyclists, clipping Germany's Tony Martin and resulting in a large pile-up with 47 kilometres left of the stage.

On Sunday, Tour de France organisers told Reuters they were suing the spectator who caused the incident.

A fan holding a cardboard sign caused a massive crash at the Tour de France, taking down dozens of cyclists at the famed race. https://t.co/mHdA2poJiXpic.twitter.com/5HkO2iLQoJ

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 26, 2021

Another huge pile-up occurred in a nervy finale on narrow roads on Monday.

Following the consecutive pile-ups, Tour de France riders put their collective foot down one kilometre into the fourth stage on Tuesday bringing the race to a halt for about a minute in a silent protest for safer racing conditions after the crashes.