tour de france spectator hit

Spectator who caused chaotic Tour de France crash arrested

LAVAL, France —The spectator who caused a massive pile-up during the first stage of the Tour de France has been arrested after presenting herself at a police station, a source close to the investigation said Wednesday.

The spectator, a 30-year-old French woman, is in custody at a police station in Landerneau, Brittany, the northwest French region where the Tour de France, the world's biggest cycling event, held its first four stages.

The spectator is accused of involuntarily causing injury and putting the life of others at risk.

On Saturday, German cyclist Tony Martin was sent tumbling when he rode straight into a cardboard sign being held out by a fan looking the other way at a television camera, creating chaos with around 30 miles left of the stage.

Another huge pile-up occurred in a nervy finale on narrow roads on Monday, leading the Tour de France riders to put their collective foot down around a mile into the fourth stage on Tuesday — literally — bringing the race to a halt for about a minute in a silent protest for safer racing conditions after the crashes.

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The Tour de France normally sees thousands of fans cheer on the riders from the sidelines as they advance through the race’s grueling stages for three weeks.

With most Covid-19 restrictions lifted in France, enthusiastic fans took to the streets of picturesque villages along the route on the opening day of the race, and thousands lined the roads of the Brittany countryside.

Spectator arrested for allegedly causing massive Tour de France crash

Three riders withdrew from the race, according to the organizers.

PARIS -- After a four-day search, a woman was arrested Wednesday as part of the investigation into a large crash at the Tour de France earlier last week, according to local prosecutors.

The 30-year-old suspect turned herself into police and expressed feelings "of shame, of fear, in the face of the consequences of her act," public prosecutor Camille Miansoni said Thursday. She is "distressed by the media coverage of what she calls 'her blunder,'" added Miansoni.

Prosecutors said police would take measures "proportionate to the seriousness of the facts and to the personality of the author."

The woman is accused of causing a large crash by holding a sign in front of cyclists in the opening stage of the competition on Saturday. She had allegedly left the scene before authorities arrived. Her cardboard sign read "allez opi-omi," meaning "go grandma-grandpa" in German.

After the crash, three riders withdrew from the race due to their injuries, according to the Tour's organizers, including German cyclist Jasha Sütterlin of Team DSM.

"Following the crash, he was taken to hospital for examinations which revealed no broken bones, but a severe contusion to his right wrist that will require further examinations back at home," Team DSM said in a statement about Sütterlin, who admitted he was "so disappointed."

Tony Martin, a member of top Tour contender Primoz Roglic's Jumbo Visma squad, hit the woman on the right side of the road, causing a domino effect for riders inside the peloton.

The first fall was followed by another, which injured four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome.

Riders briefly halted the race on Tuesday to protest against the danger caused by spectators who were too close to the road.

"Following the crashes during the third stage of the Tour de France, the riders have been discussing how they wish to proceed to show their dissatisfaction with safety measures in place and demand their concerns are taken seriously," the riders' union, the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés, said in a statement. "Their frustration about foreseeable and preventable action is enormous."

MORE: French authorities investigate pile up crash at the Tour de France

The local chief of police Nicolas Duvinage on Thursday called for calm in a press conference, saying the suspect was trying to send a message on TV to her grandparents and that it is "wise not to carry out a media lynching."

Fearing a backlash, Tour de France organizers decided to drop their suit against the fan in question and withdrew their complaint "for the sake of appeasement ... in the face of the excitement on social media," said Tour director Pierre-Yves Thouault. "We don't want to look like we are flogging a dead horse. But we remind you of the safety rules."

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Tour De France Officials Search For Spectator Who Caused Massive Crash

Race officials plan to file a lawsuit against the female spectator who caused the pileup when she stepped onto the road in the first stage of the race on Saturday.

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A spectator taking a selfie caused another huge pile-up at the Tour de France

• A spectator taking a selfie caused a new pile-up at the Tour de France on Saturday.
• Replay footage shows the specator holding their phone, arms outstretched, and clipping a cyclist.
• The Tour de France tweeted that every rider that fell was able to get back on their bikes.

A spectator taking a selfie cased a massive collision at the Tour de France on Sunday, sending numerous riders tumbling to the ground, photos and videos from the event showed.

Replays showed a spectator with their arms outstretched, holding a cellphone, while the peloton passed by. One rider, American cyclist Sepp Kuss, crashed into the person's arms and fell from his bike, causing the riders behind him to fall and pile up as well.

—NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 16, 2023

"There was a narrowing in a town. We were just trying to slow down the peloton to let the break go and then just on the side, unfortunately, somebody wanted to get a selfie," Kuss said, according to Cycling News . "I didn't really see it coming."

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Kuss and every other rider who fell were able to get back on their bikes, according to the official Tour de France Twitter account . Kuss later told Cycling News his injuries from the pile-up had little effect on his performance.

Kuss' team, Jumbo-Visma, tweeted a warning to spectators: "Please always be aware when watching cycling at the side of the road." 

It wasn't this season's first pile-up — some two dozen riders fell onto the road on Saturday as the peloton hit a corner that was slick with rain.

It's also not the first time a spectator has caused a pile-up at the Tour de France. In 2021, a woman holding out a sign that said "ALLEZ OPI-OMI!" — "Go Grandpa, Grandma!" in English — caused a German rider to fall, starting a chain reaction that caused dozens of other riders to crash into one another.

The woman was ultimately fined 1,200 euros ($1,350) , plus a ceremonial fine of a single euro to France's professional cycling authority.

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Tour de France fan who caused massive crash when riders hit cardboard sign arrested

Sport Tour de France fan who caused massive crash when riders hit cardboard sign arrested

A woman who caused a massive pile-up during the Tour de France's opening stage has been arrested after handing herself in to French police.

Key points:

• The woman faces a fine, but could also be subject to further legal action
• Two riders were forced to abandon cycling's biggest race after the crash
• Defending champion Tadej Pogačar took control with a blistering performance in the stage five time trial

With 47 kilometres left of the stage on Saturday, the spectator brandished a large cardboard sign while leaning into the path of oncoming riders .

Footage showed her looking in the other direction, apparently at a camera, and not at the approaching peloton.

The woman, who was not publicly identified, was arrested by gendarmes in the Finistère region on Wednesday local time.

They tracked her down based on "solid" accounts from people questioned this week, local radio station France Bleu Finistère said, citing a source close to the probe.

Investigators had spoken to dozens of people since the incident , the station said.

The Reuters news agency said the woman had been arrested after handing herself into a police station.

Tour organisers had announced that they would start legal proceedings against the woman , who fled the crash scene.

Tour de France deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault told the AFP news agency: "We are suing this woman who behaved so badly."

"We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this do not spoil the show for everyone."

She had leaned into the path of veteran rider Tony Martin, who fell off his bike and took dozens of others down .

German rider Jasha Sütterlin was unable to continue the stage, abandoning the race, while Marc Soler completed the stage but was later revealed to have suffered fractures in both arms, meaning he too was forced to abandon.

Eight other riders were seen by the race doctor, while many others suffered minor injuries.

The woman is likely to be fined 1,500 euros for endangering the riders, although several of those affected have hinted at taking further action.

Soler told Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia that he was thinking of suing the spectator.

"I don't know what to do, I'm thinking of taking the spectator to court, because that's an entire Tour thrown away and I feel a lot of anger," he said.

"It wasn't just a race incident, it was because of a spectator who obviously doesn't like cycling. All that preparation has gone into the bin."

Local police refused to comment on the reported arrest.

Fans gathering on the sides of roads and in villages as riders pass by is part of the tradition and charm of the Tour.

But the woman in question leaned into the path of cyclists with her sign that read "Allez Opi-Omi," a mix of French and German-language terms of endearment for grandparents: "Go Grandpa-Grandma."

Tadej Pogačar powers to time trial victory, cements race favouritism

In the day's racing, Slovenian defending champion Tadej Pogačar took control with a blistering performance in the stage five time trial.

Pogačar, who stunned compatriot Primož Roglič in the penultiumate time trial stage of last year's race, laid down a serious marker for his rivals with a blistering time on the 27.2km-long ride around Changé.

"Today was a really good day for me. I didn't do any mistakes," Pogačar said.

The 22-year-old UAE Team Emirates leader did not seize the yellow jersey, which remains on the shoulders of Mathieu van der Poel by a mere 8 seconds.

But he gained significant time over his main rivals, completing the technical course in 32 minutes at an average speed of 51kph.

"I would love to have the yellow jersey, but also on Mathieu it looks super nice, so it's fine," he said.

Pogačar was 44 seconds faster than Roglič, while 2018 champion Geraint Thomas dropped 1 minute, 18 seconds.

His Ineos Grenadiers teammate Richard Carapaz, a former Giro champion with big ambitions at the Tour this year, was 1:44 off the pace.

Their Australian teammate Richie Porte fared better, losing just 55 seconds, but as he lost significant time during the crash-marred Brittany stages earlier in the race, he still sits 3 minutes , 50 seconds off the pace overall.

The Tour is a race of attrition and remains wide open, with bigger tests to come in the mountain stages of the Alps and Pyrenees.

However, Pogačar proved last year — when he became the second-youngest winner in the race's history — that he can compete with the best climbers. 

In addition, he has a stronger team this year, and the Tour is less mountainous.

More importantly, another long time trial will be on the program on the eve of the finish on the Champs-Élysées. 

Roglič, who was Pogacar's main rival last year, said he was proud of his performance following his heavy crash two days earlier.

"It's hard, definitely. All the time trials are always very painful, let's say it like that," he said.

"But I just missed some power. I really squeezed totally everything out of myself."

Thomas was also recovering from a crash and said he did the best he could.

"Obviously, I didn't feel 100 per cent, but I don't want to bang on about that, I tried to do what I could and it wasn't enough really," he said.

"I woke up this morning and felt terrible, but once I got going and loosened up it was better. It's just one of those things that you have to crack on and deal with — just keep fighting I guess."

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Fan holding sign causes massive Tour de France crash

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Tour de France: Police search for spectator who caused big crash after holding out sign

Cyclist Tony Martin rode into the sign and was sent tumbling, which led to a domino effect as other riders also hit the ground; The woman held up a cardboard sign at the roadside as a group of cyclists approached on Saturday with her back to the riders and facing the TV cameras

By Sky News

Sunday 27 June 2021 21:12, UK

Police are searching for a spectator who caused a large pile-up during the opening stage of this year's Tour de France and then is believed to have left the scene.

The woman held up a cardboard sign at the roadside as a group of cyclists approached on Saturday.

She appeared to look straight at the television motorbike cameras with her back turned on the pack of riders.

German rider Tony Martin then rode into the sign, which said "Allez Opi-Omi" (Come on granddad-granny, in a mix of French and German), and he was sent tumbling.

This led to a domino effect, with a number of other riders also hitting the ground, around 47km (29 miles) from the end of the Brest-Landerneau stage.

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The narrow road was almost entirely blocked by stricken riders and broken bikes.

⚠ We will never say it enough, and the message is pretty clear: Respect the riders and their safety. ⚠ On ne le dira jamais assez, mais le message est clair: respectez les coureurs et leur sécurité. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/tBBOUxXDm7 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 27, 2021

A statement from local police said a judicial investigation is under way into the incident and the force was asking for information from members of the public.

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Officers said the woman was wearing glasses, a yellow jacket, a red and white jumper, and blue jeans.

Another German rider, Jasha Sutterlin, was the only cyclist who had to abandon the race but several people were hurt, including spectators.

A senior race official reportedly said organisers will be taking legal action against the woman.

"We are suing this woman who behaved so badly," Tour deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault told the AFP news agency.

"We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don't spoil the show for everyone."

Tour organisers have warned fans to "respect the safety of the riders" and "don't risk everything for a photo or to get on television".

A tweet said: "We're glad to have the public on the side of the road on the #TDF2021.

"But for the Tour to be a success, respect the safety of the riders! Don't risk everything for a photo or to get on television!"

There was also a second crash about 7.5km (4.6 miles) from the finish which brought down several riders, including British cyclist Chris Froome.

Froome then got back on his bike after being seen by a race doctor and was able to cross the line. The stage was won by Julian Alaphilippe of France.

Froome was able to take part in Sunday's second stage.

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Spectator taking a selfie causes massive crash at Tour de France

It was the selfie that nearly brought the Tour de France to a screeching halt. 

A fan snap a picture clipped American Sepp Kuss causing him to crash during the 15th stage of the famed cycling race on Sunday.

Kuss immediately went down after the spectator’s arm hit his handlebars and that caused a number of riders behind him to crash as well, with even more being delayed because of the incident. 

Kuss and the others were not hurt and the race continued on.

Dutch cyclist Wout Poels won the stage, which was the first stage win of his career. 

“There was a narrowing in the town and a spectator in the road, and I guess he just clipped my handlebars,” Kuss told the BBC. “Luckily I’m OK and hopefully the other guys in the crash are all right. It’s not ideal. 

“I think it’s fatigue. It’s been such a hard race and everybody is a bit tired. You lose a bit of alertness and there’s always things out of your control as well.”

A replay of the crash showed a fan in a white hat had their arm extended into the path of the riders while holding his phone to capture an image. 

Tour de France spectator causes a huge crash in the peloton! #TDF2023 📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/USu6eUO0o1

After the stage was completed several race teams took to Twitter to ask fans to be a bit more cautious while they’re out enjoying some of the sport’s best athletes competing on its biggest stage. 

Team Jumbo-Visma wrote on its Twitter account: “Please be always aware when watching cycling at the side of the road.”

Another team, INEOS Grenadiers team , had one of their racers involved in the crash and asked the public to be more aware. 

“If you are spectating at this amazing event, please give the riders room to race,” they tweeted. 

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard told also addressed what happened with reporters. 

“Act nice on the side of the road,” said Vingegaard, who was not impacted by the fan-created crash. “Don’t get on the road, don’t punch the riders. Be there and watch the race. You don’t have to get on the road or pour beer on us or whatever. Just have fun watching the race instead of doing some stupid things like that.”

The crash on Sunday brought back memories of a similar incident that occurred back in 2021 when a spectator holding a sign out clipped a rider on the first stage of the Tour de France and caused a massive crash. 

Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard have a message for fans after the recent Tour de France incidents. #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/cuRvw4l5Av

Two riders had to step away from the event and eight others were treated for injuries.

The woman who caused the crash eventually turned herself in to French authorities and was convicted in court of reckless endangerment and involuntarily causing injuries.

LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.

Tour De France Officials Search For Spectator Who Caused Massive Crash

NOEL KING, HOST:

Spectators are finally returning to big sporting events, which is great, but over the weekend, the Tour de France got a dramatic display of the downside of fans coming back.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It happened during the first stage of the race.

FRED DREIER: And the peloton is rumbling through a narrow road out there in the middle of Brittany, France. And there was a fan on the side of the road holding a sign.

MARTIN: That's Fred Dreier, editor-in-chief of the cycling website VeloNews. The fan's message was a German term of endearment for a grandparent, but it was pointed at the cameras, not the riders.

KING: And so the sign hit a biker who was at the head of the pack, and he went tumbling.

DREIER: And when crashes happen at the front of the peloton in situations like this, it's just a domino effect. And you see dozens of riders going down.

KING: Other sporting events might pause or reset because of that kind of interruption. But racers on the tour who were caught in the crash have no such luck.

DREIER: It's sort of like the New England Patriots starting the Super Bowl all of a sudden down three touchdowns because of something that happened inside the first two minutes of the game.

MARTIN: Dreier says while this crash was especially bad, crashes during bike races in general aren't that uncommon.

DREIER: You watch enough a bike races, you see crazy stuff like this all the time, you know, dogs running out into the course. I remember a few years ago - I believed it was a race in Spain - a horse ran onto the course, and all of a sudden, the riders are just sort of, you know, riding along, just hoping they're not going to get knocked over by this horse.

MARTIN: It's unclear whether that horse faced any consequences, but Tour de France organizers have said they plan to sue the woman with the sign if they can find her. They suspect she left France after the incident.

DREIER: As far as I know, this woman has not yet been located. But, yeah, the Tour de France organizer is making a big public fuss about this.

KING: Some riders have asked for more barriers between themselves and spectators. But Dreier says that given the race is hundreds of miles and there are millions of watchers along the path, there's really no point.

DREIER: People using their best judgment, you're relying on people being on their best behavior for this thing to go off. And most of the time, it does. Like, 99.9% of the time it does.

KING: And for that 99.9% of the time, seeing that event live and in person is special for a lot of fans.

DREIER: I tell people to think of them like they are a Fourth of July parade. Like, we all went to Fourth of July parades as kids. Many of us may take our kids to Fourth of July parade some days. And you go because you went there as a kid and because it's sort of part of our culture.

(SOUNDBITE OF ENEMIES' "A BLIND COCKTAIL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Tour de France Rider Breaks Neck After Colliding with a Spectator and Exits Competition

Footage shows cyclist Daniel Oss' collision with multiple spectators on a cobblestone road

Tour de France cyclist Daniel Oss broke his his neck when he collided with spectators, forcing him to exit this year's competition.

Oss, an Italian cyclist competing with the road racing team Team TotalEnergies, collided with fans during Wednesday's Stage 5, which took racers 157 kilometers (97.5 miles) between the cities of Lille and Arenberg, France, according to the Tour de France website .

Footage of the accident posted to Twitter appears to show 35-year-old Oss colliding with a fan wearing a yellow shirt before he plunged into another spectator who leaned into the race path to film riders as they passed by. Two other cyclists appeared to fall off their bicycles in the collision, too.

Oss finished Wednesday's stage after the incident, according to CNN , but Team TotalEnergies confirmed in a statement posted to Twitter that the Italian pro will leave the Tour de France as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.

"Additional examinations revealed a fracture of a cervical vertebra requiring immobilization for a few weeks," the team wrote in a statement.

"The whole team wishes you a good recovery, Daniel," the statement added.

The 2022 Tour de France Stage 5 included a total of 19.4 kilometers (12.04 miles) of "narrow, rough cobbled road," like what Oss was riding on when the collision occurred, according to Bicycling Magazine . Multiple crashes were reported during Wednesday's stage, but not all resulted in injuries as serious as Oss' broken neck, according to CNN.

The Tour de France did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on the incident.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Collisions at the Tour de France, even between spectators and cyclists, are nothing new. In 2021, a 30-year-old woman was arrested by French police after she leaned into the race course holding a large sign, colliding with a cyclist and creating a massive pileup . While the Tour ultimately dropped its lawsuit against the woman , she was ultimately fined €1,200 ($1,357, at the time) for causing the pileup, according to the BBC .

Australian Simon Clarke won Wednesday's Stage 5, according to the Tour de France website . As of Friday, Slovenian Tadej Pogačar leads the competition at large.

The Tour de France runs through July 24.

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Tour de France crash: Legal action not worth disrupting the long history of fan involvement

Professor of Sports Law and Practice, University of Westminster

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Steve Greenfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Westminster provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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Calamity marred the opening stage of the 2021 Tour de France, with two harrowing crashes in the final 45km of the stretch from Brest to Landernau.

The second of the two was a “normal” cycling crash – one rider’s wheels clipped another, causing a mass pile up and leaving two riders unable to continue.

But it was the first incident that has been controversial due to its cause – a roadside spectator’s homemade cardboard sign. French police have arrested the fan whose sign interfered with the race, causing German rider Tony Hans-Joachim Martin to swerve into other riders and bring down most of the peloton. The fan holding the sign that read “Allez Omi Opi!” (roughly translated as “Go Grandpa and Grandma”) left the scene, and Belgian rider Jasper Stuyven later tweeted “I hope Omi & Opi are proud of you.”

Race deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault announced organisers’ plans to take legal action against the fan: “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.”

The spectator was clearly careless, looking the wrong way and creating an obstruction with her sign, but it is questionable whether legal action is either realistic or sensible. A huge attraction of the Tour, which is economically important for host cities, is the shared experience of its history and culture among spectators, and with that, the possibility of crashes.

Spectators and speeding objects

In 1994, a policeman stepped out to take a photograph around a corner, causing a crash and several rider injuries. Five years later, Giuseppe Guerini crashed into another spectator standing in the middle of the road taking a picture.

In 2006, it was again cardboard that was the cause of an injury, when Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd was cut by a green cardboard hand waved by a spectator. Ironically, these “hands” had been given out by one of the sponsors.

These incidents are almost inevitable given the proximity of spectators to the fast-travelling riders. The Tour is a huge affair, taking place over 23 days with 21 stages covering 3,500km. It attracts somewhere between 10 and 12 million spectators annually, making it France’s second most popular tourist attraction behind Disneyland Paris.

Of course, there is potential to cause harm whenever you pair sports spectators with fast-moving objects. However, in other sports the injury is normally to the viewers – especially if they stray onto the track. In January 2021, a racegoer entered the Wellington Cup racetrack in New Zealand, narrowly avoiding injury as the horses sped past him.

The most infamous racecourse example was the death of suffragette Emily Davison who was killed by King George V’s horse Anmer at the 1913 Epsom Derby as she made a political protest .

Regulating on the roads

Leaving aside the cultural history of spectator involvement, it is the Tour’s sheer enormity that makes strict crowd control challenging, especially in more remote viewing areas. It is particularly difficult for organisers to control and regulate events that take place on public roads where fans have easy access and can get close to the action.

There are many examples aside from the Tour de France in motor sports, such as the infamous and often deadly Isle of Man TT races and the Monaco Grand Prix. The 24 hours of Le Mans combines a private track and public roads – this event was the site of the worst motor sport disaster, killing 83 spectators in 1955.

In the case of the Tour de France, the potential danger of mixing speeding cyclists and spectators is trumped by the historic, cultural link between the public and the race. This dimension is part of what makes the Tour de France a globally beloved event, and any legal action against the fan will not have a positive outcome. Barriers cannot be installed everywhere, so self-policing is fundamental, but people will always do careless things. No doubt the mystery fan, who will undoubtedly be embarrassed and appalled at the outcome of her actions, will be found and castigated on social media.

Little is to be gained by legal action – though the threat alone may have the desired effect of reminding spectators of their responsibilities. Of the two crashes on stage one of the Tour, the one caused by the careless fan led to one rider withdrawing. But the other accident – caused by riders – led to two cyclists leaving the tour. Crashes are part of the event, however they happen.

Doug Ryder, team principal of African team Qhubeka NextHash, disagreed with the race promoter’s intention to pursue the viewer. “A good conversation has to take place, but I don’t think suing … can help,” he said . “But people need to realise that the speed is high and focus on the riders not on a screen or a moment of glory.”

This incident is a reminder of both the thrill of the close physical relationship between fan and rider, and also the potential risks to both parties. But it is not an area where the law needs to become unnecessarily involved.

Update: The original version of this article said that “the French police are now seeking the fan whose sign interfered with the race”. The article has been update to reflect the fact that the fan, suspected of causing the fall, has been arrested .

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Player apologizes for hitting spectator with a ball at French Open

FILE - Terence Atmane, of France, plays a forehand return to Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, during a first-round match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 15, 2024. Atmane was allowed to continue his first-round match at the French Open, Sunday, May 26, 2024, without being penalized after hitting a ball angrily and accidentally striking a spectator in the stands at one of the event’s smaller courts. His opponent, Sebastian Ofner, won the match in five sets. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - Sebastian Ofner, of Austria, returns a ball to Kei Nishikori, of Japan, in a men’s first-round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament March 21, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Terence Atmane, of France, was allowed to continue his first-round match at the French Open, Sunday, May 26, 2024, without being penalized after hitting a ball angrily and accidentally striking a spectator in the stands at one of the event’s smaller courts. Atman’s opponent, Ofner, won the match in five sets. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

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PARIS (AP) — French tennis player Terence Atmane apologized on Tuesday for hitting a spectator with a ball at the French Open .

Atmane angrily struck a ball and accidentally hit the female spectator in the leg on Sunday. He wasn’t disqualified but received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. Atmane lost the first-round match to Sebastian Ofner in five sets.

“This gesture was not intentional. Please forgive me for my emotional outburst,” he said on Tuesday on Instagram . He explained that a broken string led to the ball flying into the stands and admitted to being too shocked to react immediately.

Atmane emphasized his desire to apologize personally to the spectator.

Atmane was not disqualified because the spectator said she was fine, tournament referee Remy Azemar told French sports newspaper L’Equipe. He added Atmane will get a “significant fine.”

Not disqualifying Atmane sparked debate at Roland Garros. Players were disqualified for similar actions in the past. At last year’s French Open, Miyu Kato and her doubles partner were forced to forfeit a match when Kato accidentally hit a ball girl in the neck with a ball.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

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Spectator who caused Tour de France pile-up goes on trial

Woman tells prosecutors she feels ashamed of her ‘stupidity’ after obstructing cyclists during race in June

A spectator whose attempt to get noticed by TV cameras while cheering the Tour de France caused one of the biggest pile-ups in the race’s history has gone on trial charged with injuring dozens of riders.

The 31-year-old from Brittany in France , whose identity was withheld after she was subjected to online abuse, told prosecutors she felt ashamed of her “stupidity”.

As she stood with other spectators at the side of a narrow road near the finish of the first day’s racing in north-west France in June, she held up a wide cardboard sign that read: “ Allez, Opi-Omi ” – opi and omi being informal German terms for grandfather and grandmother.

She was hoping to be spotted by TV cameras to impress her German-origin grandparents, who were watching the race on TV. But she stepped out too far in front of the tightly packed peloton as it sped along the road.

The German rider Tony Martin bumped into her and fell, causing dozens of riders to crash while others swerved into the crowd.

Footage of the collision showing medics tending stunned and grimacing victims prompted outrage among fans and race organisers, especially when they discovered the woman had fled the scene instead of staying to help. She remained in hiding for four days before turning herself in to police.

Several riders had to pull out of the race, including Spain’s Marc Soler, who broke his arms.

The defendant was charged with endangering lives and causing unintentional injuries and could face a fine of up to €15,000 and a year in prison.

The public prosecutor of Brest noted that the woman had some “personal vulnerabilities”. Prosecutors were told the defendant had been “anguished” by the media fallout from the incident.

The Switzerland-based International Association of Riders (CPA) seeks a symbolic €1 in damages to warn against dangerous fan behaviour during the Tour de France . “The damage suffered by the riders is physical, moral and economic,” its president, Gianni Bugno, said.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

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Pello Bilbao receives warning for punching fan at the Tour de France

Basque rider hit fan out of the way while racing towards the top of the Col de la Loze on stage 17

Pello Bilbao has been warned by the UCI commissaires jury at the Tour de France after punching a spectator while racing up the Col de la Loze on stage 17.

The Bahrain Victorious rider was caught on camera hitting out at a fan with his right hand as he raced towards the summit of the Tour's highest peak along with Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ).

A fan was running alongside Harper, just in front of Bilbao, as the breakaway trio battled their way up the final 3km of the HC-rated climb inside the final 10km of the stage, leaving the Basque rider with no space to move into. As he sought to move past Harper, he swiped out at the fan before racing on.

Voeckler suspended from Tour de France after moto stalls in front of Vingegaard Tour de France: Vingegaard dashes Pogacar's GC hopes on stage 17 across Col de la Loze 'I'm gone. I'm dead' – Pogacar's Tour de France hopes end on Col de la Loze

After the stage, Bilbao's action appeared on the day's list of commissaires decisions, earning himself a warning for 'inappropriate behaviour (towards a spectator)'. He was served an 'official notice' and didn't receive a fine or any other punishment for his swipe.

In the end, stage 10 winner Bilbao raced home for third on the stage behind Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) and runner-up Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), who had accelerated away earlier on the climb. He jumped up to sixth overall as a result, and now lies within striking distance of Carlos Rodríguez in fourth, 39 seconds down.

Ouch! 🤬👊 Pello Bilbao was not happy with the intrusion of one spectator onto his racing line!#TDF2023 #sbstdf #couchpeloton#sbstdf #couchpeloton #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/K4UzCVsst3 July 20, 2023

Bilbao's move wasn't the only infraction of the day, with ex-rider turned France Télévisions commentator Thomas Voeckler and his motorbike pilot taken off the race for stage 18 after their motorbike stalled on the climb.

The pair's motorbike stalled on a steep bend towards the top of the climb, holding up a race organisation car as a result and in turn blocking the road for Jonas Vingegaard and Wilco Kelderman.

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The pair were sanctioned for violating regulations concerning 'the circulation of vehicles in the race' and 'non-compliance with the press specification before the summit of the Col de la Loze' and received a 500CHF fine in addition to be taking off the race for Thursday's stage 18.

Other penalties handed out during the Alpine queen stage included a 500CHF fine for EF Education-EasyPost director and exclusion from stage 18 for team press officer Kier Place for 'irregular refuelling' with team assistants standing too far to the middle of the road, a 200CHF fine for Jayco-AlUla rider Lawson Craddock for littering, and a 200CHF for UAE Team Emirates rider Vegard Stake Længen and his director Andrej Hauptman for a sticky bottle.

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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.

Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.

As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Dani also oversees How to Watch guides and works on The Leadout newsletter throughout the season. Their favourite races are Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix and their favourite published article is from the 2024 edition of the latter: 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix

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International Edition

Tennis Briefing: Default problems, Bublik’s underarm serves, and superstition

Follow live coverage of the second day of the French Open 2024 today, including Zverev vs Nadal

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic  will explain the stories from the last week on court.

This week, the French Open begins in Paris, and the first round already has some winners and losers .

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Elsewhere, Alexander Bublik went underarm serve mad, a press conference question caused consternation, and American women showed the men how to do it on clay.

If you’d like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, please click here .

Does tennis have a default settings problem?

The ball flew across the night sky on court 12 at Roland Garros, and the spectator didn’t see it coming.

Terence Atmane, the world No 121 and French wildcard, was steaming — he’d coughed up a two-set lead against Austrian world No 45 Sebastian Ofner, and at 1-4 down in the fourth, was on the verge of having to play a decider. After missing a ball long, he smashed it away in frustration and hit someone in the crowd.

A supervisor came out and spoke to the spectator. After a protracted discussion, Atmane received a warning.

Descalificación? #atmane #rolandgarros #eurosport pic.twitter.com/Vg4FdyTjK5 — Carlos C. (@Crlos9) May 26, 2024

He went on to lose the match, but should he have been disqualified then and there?

It’s hard to argue anything other than, ‘Yes, he should have been disqualified’, but tennis has a bewildering malleability in these situations.

At last year’s tournament, Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were defaulted from the women’s doubles after Kato returned a ball to an unaware ballgirl, who cried after it struck her. Their opponents, Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova, pushed for them to be disqualified. Nonsensically, they were.

Novak Djokovic was correctly defaulted from the 2020 US Open after accidentally striking a lineswoman in the throat with a ball, hit in frustration, but not before pleading the case for context as a world No 1 in a Grand Slam. Atmane did exactly the same thing but didn’t see his tournament end.

Whether or not home advantage played a part is up for debate. What seems clearer is that tennis officials have an outcome bias problem when it comes to defaults: if someone is visibly hurt, it’s a default; if not, it’s fine. The problem is that the reason for the rule is to discourage balls from being struck dangerously in the first place, regardless of whether or not they end up hitting somebody, and whether they do or don’t find a target can be complete chance.

Stefanos Tsitsipas avoided lashing a ball into a spectator’s head by millimetres (and good luck) during his tempestuous clash with Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon in 2022; he should have been defaulted there. Atmane should have gone here. Until there are some checks and balances on consistency, either through video replays or less tolerance, these debates will recur.

Rublev's default in Dubai is exactly why tennis needs electronic line calling

Why was Clara Burel trying to avoid her own draw?

There was a classic press conference moment in Strasbourg on Thursday, when Clara Burel was told by an English journalist about her French Open draw. Sounds normal?

Well, she’d just said in French that she didn’t want to know her opponent.

When you reveal Clara Burel’s French Open draw… pic.twitter.com/kHDfKXOry2 — Talking Tennis (@TalkingTennisTT) May 23, 2024

There followed a withering look from Burel, the world No 43 from France, and an awkward silence as everyone tried to work out what to say next. It might seem like an odd superstition, but Burel is not alone in not wanting to know days out who she is going to be playing. Compatriot Adrian Mannarino is the same.

It’s not clear when Burel would have wanted to find out — the assumption is that she would have wanted a decent amount of notice to prepare for her opponent — but a few days out, she didn’t want to think about it.

Naomi Osaka was similar in a press conference earlier in the week, asking not to be told any information about her possible second-round opponent. She later told The Athletic ’s Matthew Futterman (in another press conference) that she had found out she would likely be facing Iga Swiatek anyway, after jokingly saying, “It’s not like I’m playing Iga, right?” to her team.

Players’ reasons for an “ignorance is bliss” policy are varied. A common one is that they want to focus on (to us) boring but important things like process, and not be preoccupied by who they are playing. Another is that if a player is still in another tournament, even if in this case Burel had actually been knocked out of Strasbourg, they don’t want to be distracted thinking about their next event.

It all plays into a wider debate in sport about how much you should focus on yourself and how much you should think about the opposition. There’s a fine line between admirable confidence and naivety.

Burel, incidentally, will be playing the Russian world No 25 Anna Kalinskaya. A tough draw but, well, at least she’ll have ample time to prepare.

A sports psychologist explains the competitive value of superstition

How many underarm serves are too many?

The ATP Tour’s underarm server-in-chief Bublik took things to extremes on Friday in Lyon, when he produced six (SIX) in a single game against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

The first three were on consecutive break points when down 0-40 — and Bublik won all three of them against his frazzled opponent.

Mpetshi Perricard won the next couple, but the last went Bublik’s way to secure him an unlikely service hold.

Just the SIX @BublikAlexander underarm serves in one game 🤯 #OpenParc pic.twitter.com/G4h1ZJ2cMX — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 24, 2024

Mpetshi Perricard ultimately won the match though to advance to the Lyon Open final.

As ever with an underarm serve, especially when there are this many, it raises the question of how sporting or otherwise it is. Ultimately, it’s completely fair game and, in this case, it worked for Bublik so there was clearly some method in the madness. What’s so unusual about this instance is that generally, an underarm serve works because of the element of surprise. For someone, even Bublik, to use them repeatedly is a big departure from the norm. But he’s pretty used to that.

Something to look out for at Roland Garros.

Davidovich Fokina loses to Rune after hitting underarm serve at 8-8 in tie-break

Are the American women going to show the men how to win on clay?

Danielle Collins gets back into action Monday, with a first-round match against fellow American Caroline Dolehide. Collins, who is retiring at the end of the year, has been on a roll the past couple months, winning the Miami Open and keeping her form as tennis shifted to clay.

She was part of a troika of American women who had a great week leading into the French Open. Collins lost in the final of Strasbourg to Madison Keys, while Peyton Stearns won the Morocco Open. Granted, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff all took the week off, but wins are wins, especially when Americans are playing on courts that turn their white shoes rusty.

And especially when you do it like Stearns, who was 0-5 and match point down against Lucia Bronzetti in the quarter-finals before rallying to win 7-5.

At Roland Garros, Keys gets Renata Zarazua, a 26-year-old from Mexico who will be playing just her fourth Grand Slam match. Stearns gets Lucija Ciric Bagaric, a 20-year-old Croatian who survived qualifying.

Danielle Collins is on fire. She's quitting tennis at the end of the year anyway.

Sporting crossover of the week

Bia Haddad Maia: Camisa 10 🤹‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/ReP96FyBfL — wta (@WTA) May 23, 2024

Recommended reading:

• How tears and a telephone in Toronto changed Aryna Sabalenka’s tennis life
• Why the French Open draw is a nightmare for Nadal — and for the tournament
• Jelena Ostapenko thinks tennis is more fun when she’s around
• My game in my words: Ons Jabeur

🏆 The winners of the week

🎾  ATP: 

🏆 Casper Ruud def. Tomas Machac 7-5, 6-3 to win the Gonet Geneva Open (250) in Switzerland. It is Ruud’s 12th ATP Tour title. 🏆 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard  def. Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(7) to win the Open Parc (250) in Lyon, France. It is Mpetshi Perricard’s first ATP Tour title.

🏆 Madison Keys def.  Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-2 to win the Internationaux de Strasbourg (500) in Strasbourg, France. It is Keys’ eighth WTA Tour title. 🏆 Peyton Stearns def. Mayar Sherif 6-2, 6-1 to win the Grand Prix De Son Altesse Royale La Princesse Lalla Meryem (250) in Rabat, Morocco. It is Stearns’ first WTA Tour title.

📈📉 On the rise / Down the line

📈 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard moves up 51 places from No 117 to No 66. It is the Frenchman’s highest career ranking to date. 📈 Danielle Collins returns to the top 10, rising two places from No 12 to No 10. She displaces Jelena Ostapenko. 📈 Mayar Sherif rises 13 places from No 66 to No 53. Sherif has reached three WTA finals this year, but is yet to take home a trophy.

📉 Anna Blinkova falls 10 places (and out of the top 50) from No 45 to No 55. 📉 Arthur Fils drops eight places from No 30 to No 38. 📉 Lucia Bronzetti tumbles 19 places from No 48 to No 67.

📅 Coming up

📍Paris, French Open, featuring Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner 📺 UK: Discovery+; U.S.: Tennis Channel

📍Paris, French Open, featuring Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina 📺 UK: Discovery+; U.S.: Tennis Channel

Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments as the tours continue.

(Top photo: Johannes Simon/Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton for The Athletic )

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