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The fan who caused the massive crash at the 2021 Tour de France stage one has been arrested and is in police custody, according to news outlet RTL. The accident occurred with 45 kilometers left of stage one of the 2021 Tour de France.
The fan, who was holding a placard which read "Allez Opi-Omi" — meaning "go granddad, grandmom" in German — knocked down Team Jumbo-Visma's Tony Martin. As Martin went down, the whole peloton came crashing behind him.
Also Read: Alberto Contador picks Tadej Pogacar as his 2021 Tour de France winner
French authorities said the woman was French and had been taken into custody in Landerneau.
2021 Tour de France: Spectator who caused Stage 1 crash wanted by authorities
Following the incident, 2021 Tour de France deputy director of the Tour, Pierre-Yves Thouault, had announced that the authorities were searching for the fan and were suing her for causing the crash and fleeing the scene of the accident.
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On Sunday, the Gendarmarie du Finistère opened an investigation for "involuntary injuries incapacity not exceeding three months by manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence.". Witnesses were asked to inform about the whereabouts of the fan.
Tour de France race deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault told AFP:
"We are suing this woman who behaved so badly. We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don't spoil the show for everyone."
Jumbo-Visma's Martin said in a release,
“We had everything under control until the crash. I brought the guys to the front via the right side of the road, but crashed into the sign of the spectator. It all happened very quickly; suddenly almost the entire team was on the ground."
He added:
"Many spectators behave respectfully. But unfortunately, not this one. Fortunately, Primoz came through it well. I hope the physical damage to myself and the other guys is manageable.”
Team DSM's Jasha Sütterlin injured his hand and was taken to the hospital. Mvistar's Marc Soler abandoned the race on stage two after fracturing both his arms in the crash. Many more riders registered various other injuries.
2021 Tour de France Stage 5: Pogacar wins time trial
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) of Slovenia won the first time trial stage of the 2021 Tour de France, while Team Alpecin-Fenix's Mathieu van der Poel retained that yellow jersey.
- Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:32:00
- Stefan Kung (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:32:19
- Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 0:32:27
- Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 0:32:30
- Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 0:32:31
- Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:32:37
- Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 0:32:44
- Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:32:55
- Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:32:55
- Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:33:00
Also Read: Pogacar v Roglic - who will win the Slovenian battle in France?
Pogacar embraced Van der Poel while the Slovenian was busy with media duties. Pogacar later said:
"It was just a really good day today. I didn’t do any mistakes. It was perfect weather for me but sadly some guys went out on wet roads. I had perfect conditions and perfect temperature. I checked the course. In the last few time trials I did mistakes after starting super fast. I paced myself pretty good and found a perfect rhythm to the end. The goal was not to lose the time, but I gained time so I’m super happy. I’m just excited for the whole Tour. I would love to have the yellow jersey but Mathieu looks super nice, so it’s fine.”
The 27-year-old Slovenian registered a time of 32 minutes in the stage five —between Change and Laval — and defeated European champion and Team Groupama–FDJ's Stefan Kung of Switzerland's effort by 18 seconds.
