Spectator that provoked Tour de France pile-up speaks out
The spectator that provoked the mass crash at stage 1 of the Tour de France has said “I’m ashamed, I regret my stupidity.”
The Frenchwoman had been holding a placard with the words “Allez Opi Omi” – a message to German relatives – into the road when the peloton went barreling into the sign, bringing down scores of riders and leading to the abandonment of Marc Soler and Jasha Sütterlin. She spoke outside a court in Brest on Thursday.
A fan just caused a MASSIVE crash at the very beginning of the Tour De France 😬 pic.twitter.com/6q5TwQRBdU
— Blake Harms (@wxblakeharms) June 26, 2021
The publication Ouest France reports officials are making a decision on how to proceed in the case against her, and that action taken “would be proportionate to the seriousness of the case and the personality of the perpetrator.”
Tour de France organizers ASO dropped its case against the woman Thursday. However, she is still potentially facing a charge for “unintentional injuries with incapacity not exceeding three months by manifestly willful breach of an obligation of safety or caution.” The charge could increase should Soler proceed with his threats to file an official complaint.
Although ASO has withdrawn from the fracas, the riders group the CPA has filed an official complaint with the police.
This afternoon, CPA filed an official complaint with the police against the spectator who caused the crash during Stage 1 of the Tour. Around 50 riders were impacted. CPA and the riders hope this will encourage spectators to reflect and respect the riders. https://t.co/6UlenbNUPm pic.twitter.com/781RrsIoIO
— CPA Cycling (@cpacycling) June 30, 2021
