Tour de France spectator who caused massive crash with cardboard sign arrested

The specific details of how she was identified or arrested were unclear.

Matthias Ang | July 01, 2021, 01:14 PM

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The spectator who caused a massive chain collision among cyclists at Stage 1 of the Tour de France on June 26 has been arrested.

Currently in custody

News reports reported that she was in custody on Wednesday (June 30).

However, specific details of how she was identified or arrested are still unclear.

According to Reuters and New York Times, she had turned herself in at a police station and is currently in custody at the northwestern French commune of Landerneau.

However, AP News reported that she had been arrested by France's gendarmes who had tracked her down using "solid" accounts from people who had been questioned.

Investigators had reportedly spoken to "dozens" of people in the wake of the incident.

What happened?

During the race, the woman had been standing on the side of the road while holding up a cardboard sign, looking at cameras with her back turned away from the oncoming cyclists.

The woman’s sign read, "Come on grandad-granny" in a mix of French and German.

A cyclist at the head of the pack then rode into the sign and was knocked off his balance, with his fall causing a chain collision among the riders.

The BBC reported that the woman's actions resulted in one cyclist pulling out of the Tour completely, with another eight were treated for injuries.

The deputy director of Tour de France, Pierre-Yves Thouault added that organisers intend to sue the spectator to send a message.

AFP quoted him as saying: "We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don’t spoil the show for everyone."

Following the crash, French authorities said that they intend to charge the spectator with "unintentional short-term injury through a manifestly deliberate breach of a duty of safety or care".

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Top images via Gendarmerie du Finistère Facebook