Bystander On The Run Awarded Donkey Of The Day For Causing The Largest Crash In Tour de France History

The organizers of the Tour de France said Saturday they would sue the female spectator who caused a huge crash during the first stage of the race.

The woman, who was holding a large banner displaying a German greeting to her grandparents, stepped onto the road to get on the TV cameras and did not get back to the side in time as the cyclists raced by. She clipped one cyclist which caused a chain reaction and huge pile up.

Several spectators and cyclists were injured in the crash.

“We are suing this woman who behaved so badly,” Pierre-Yves Thouault, the tour’s deputy director, told Agence France-Presse. “We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don’t spoil the show for everyone.

Julian Alaphilippe, who scraped his knee in the incident, won the 122.9-mile stage.

“I hope everyone is okay,” he said. “I’m calling on the fans to be careful.”

“It’s nice to see the fans back on the side of the road, but please be careful,” he added, referring to fans not being allowed near starting and finish lines during last year’s race because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mathieu Van der Poel, racing in his first Tour, won Sunday’s second stage without incident and took the overall lead in the race which will end on July 18.

[via New York Daily News]