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Banner-Wielding Fan Who Caused Massive Crash At Tour De France Goes On Trial

Banner-Wielding Fan Who Caused Massive Crash At Tour De France Goes On Trial

The spectator has been charged with endangering lives and causing unintentional injuries, which can carry a punishment of a year in prison.

Max Sherry

Max Sherry

The cycling fan who singlehandedly caused one of the biggest pile-ups in Tour de France history has officially gone on trial.

It was last reported that the woman immediately fled the country after the incident, never to be seen again.

Well, until now.

The French spectator has been caught by authorities and will stand trial this week for her actions which left dozens of competitors injured and out of the race.

It's understood the woman, whose identity has been withheld following online abuse, went into hiding before eventually turning herself in to police.

Now in police custody, she has been charged with endangering lives and causing unintentional injuries, which can carry a punishment of a year in prison and a 15,000 euro fine.

According to reports, the spectator is remorseful, telling prosecutors that she is ashamed of her "stupidity".

"The damage suffered by the riders is physical, moral and economic," Professional cyclists' Union president Gianni Bugno said.

"An athlete prepares months for a grand tour and it is not acceptable that all his hard work, that of his family, his staff and his team should be shattered in an instant by the quest for popularity of those who should attend the event without becoming the protagonist.

"We are sure that the spectator did not intentionally want to harm anyone, but with her carelessness she compromised the health and the season of more than one of our members.

"The one euro compensation we have asked for does not pay for the fracture of both arms of Marc Soler nor for the consequences suffered by Tony Martin and the other riders who ended up on the ground, but it has a symbolic value."

German rider Tony Martin after the crash.
PA

Rewind to earlier this year, the very first day of the Tour de France was marred when a cycling fan made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Complete and utter chaos erupted during Stage 1 when Tony Martin appeared to come off his bike near the front of the peloton.

At first glance, it looked like Martin's tyres simply slipped but damning replays later revealed the full extent of the wild crash and what caused of it.

When slow-mos played on the broadcast, they showed Martin colliding with a spectator who was leaning onto the road while holding up a hand-written banner, which read "Allez, Opi-Omi", meaning "grandpa and granny."

And when the helpless Martin came off his bicycle, this sparked a domino effect of fellow riders also crashing at full speed onto the hard tarmac.

Martin's fall at rapid speeds caused a mass pile-up of bikes and riders behind him after they failed to slow down to avoid the crash.

It has since been described by people within the cycling community as "the worst Tour de France crash ever seen".

Featured Image Credit: Eurosport

Topics: Tour de France, Cycling, Australia