Woman Who Caused Huge Tour de France Crash On The Opening Stage Has Been Arrested

The woman who caused a huge crash on the opening stage of this year's Tour de France has been arrested in Brittany.

On Saturday, riders set off Le Grand Depart, the first stage of the race, between Brest to Landerneau, but were interrupted with around 42 km left when there was a huge crash amongst the peloton.

German rider Tony Martin, who has won five stages in previous Tours, collided with a fan on the side of the road who was holding a large cardboard sign.

The woman wasn't watching the race and instead looking at the television cameras and Martin couldn't get out of the way in time, he hit the road and took out several riders in the process, causing a huge pileup.

It was reported yesterday that she had fled France to avoid the police and had jumped on a plane to Germany, but now it looks like that wasn't the case at all.

According to French outlet RTL, the woman was actually obtained in Landerneau, the small town where the 122 mile stage finished.

The report isn't sure whether she handed herself in or not but she's accused of involuntarily causing injury could be fined up to £1280.

Camille Miansoni, the prosecutor of the Republic of Brest had been talking about the situation ahead of the announcement that the woman had been arrested.

"Things are progressing well and we hope to be able to explain this event within a reasonable time," Miansoni told the press.

"After the call for witnesses which was launched in the evening, several testimonies were taken.

"Obviously, you have to cross-check them, you have to check them, it takes a little time."

There was happier news on the Tour on Monday, with Britain's Mark Cavendish winning the fourth stage, his first win since 2016.

Cavendish has now won 31 stages of Le Tour, second on the list to the legendary Eddy Merckx who has 34, but his career at the top seemed to be over.

He wasn't even picked for his team, Deceuninck-Quick-Step, originally but Sam Bennett picked up an injury in training and was replaced by the Manxman.

Hopefully going forward we can concentrate on magical moments of sport and not crashes caused by spectators!

Topics: Tour de France, Cycling

Ryan Sidle

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