Photo: NBC Sports
The Tour de France is dropping its lawsuit against the womanwho caused a massive crashthat brought dozens of riders to the ground during the race last week.
The 30-year-old woman, who has not been publicly identified,turned herself in to French authoritiesjust days after beginning the pileup on June 26. As seen in footagefrom the race, German cyclist Tony Martin inadvertently crashed into the woman as she held a cardboard sign for television cameras directly in the path of approaching cyclists. Martin fell from his bike, leading to a chain reaction of other riders tumbling to the pavement.
“We are suing this woman who behaved so badly,” Thouault told the outlet. “We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don’t spoil the show for everyone.”
But Tour de France organizers soon had a change of heart and withdrew their lawsuit against the spectator on Thursday,Reutersreported.
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“We are withdrawing our complaint,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme said. “This story has been blown out of proportion, but we wish to remind everyone of the safety rules on the race.”
Camille Miansoni, a local prosecutor, told Reuters that the riders who were injured in the crash could still launch their own lawsuits against the woman, who has been arrested and placed in custody.
Miansoni said the woman — who is believed to have caused the crash involuntarily — has expressed shame and fear following the accident.
The sign she held during the event read “Allez Opi-Omi,” which translates from French and German to “Come on granddad-granny.”
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Martin, who was the cyclist to crash into the woman, posted a message to hisInstagrampage after the accident that asked spectators not to treat the event as a “circus.”
“To all the people next to the road who think that the #tourdefrance is a circus, to people who risk everything for a selfie with a 50 km/h fast peloton, to people who think it’s nice to show their naked butt, to drunken people who push us sideways on the climbs, to people who think that it is a good idea to hold a sign into the road while the peloton is passing,” he said.
“I want to ask [these people] forcefully: please respect the riders and the #tourdefrance ! Use your head or stay home!” Martin added. “We don’t want you here. You risk our life and our dreams for that we work so hard!”
source: people.com
