Pandemonium broke out in the cycling roads of France on Saturday when a massive crash broke out in Stage 1 of the Tour de France. A spectator stretched out a little too far onto the course with their sign and tripped up cyclist Tony Martin, causing a mass of bikes and bodies to pile up as a result.
In addition to Martin, the whole Jumbo Visma team went down along with dozens and dozens of others. The fan that caused the crash was holding a sign that read 'Allez Opi-Omi!' written on it in black marker, which is a hello message to their grandparents.
The Tour's official Twitter account released a public service announcement shortly after the incident.
Ultimately, it was Julian Alaphilippe who took Stage 1 of the Tour de France, springing a huge late attack to get the early win.
As for what happened to the spectator, well, here's what Ouest-France reported. The following is translated from French to English.
Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, revealed to us this Saturday evening that ASO, the organizer of the race, had filed a complaint against this spectator. But just after the incident, the latter, of foreign nationality, probably German, took to the skies. For now, he remains untraceable.
A daring escape for an absolutely boneheaded crime. Still, the Tour de France is planning on pursuing the person responsible for this incident, as it was reported on Sunday that the organizers behind the competition will be suing the fan.
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 dont spoil the show for everyone,"