A spectator who leant into the path of the speeding peloton holding up a sign that read “Allez Opi-Omi!,” (a mix of French and German for “Let’s Go Grandpa-Grandma!”) caused the greatest Tour de France crash in recent times. The sign collided with Tony Martin with some 45kms left in the race.
“The major issue on the Tour is road security,” lieutenant-colonel Joel Scherer of the French Gendarmerie said in France 24 publication.
Another policeman states that “zero fatalities” was their bottom line assignment aim on a Tour de France or any bike race.
The woman, who was wearing a yellow raincoat, reeled away in horror when she realised the extent of her folly, but she then disappeared into the deep roadside crowds, her sign folded away beneath her arm.
The worst Tour de France crash I've ever seen pic.twitter.com/1jngQE1pYg
— daniel (@cyclingreporter) June 26, 2021
“We are suing this woman who behaved so badly,” Tour deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault told AFP.
“We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this do not spoil the show for everyone,” he said.
Recall that the Tour started on Saturday from the Atlantic port of Brest.
