ツールの大クラッシュ、原因つくった観客の捜査開始

【ペロスギレックＡＦＰ＝時事】ツール・ド・フランスの第１ステージ（ブレストからランデルノー、１９７．８キロメートル）で起こった大規模なクラッシュについて、仏警察が２７日、事故の原因をつくった女性観客の捜査を開始し、目撃者の協力を呼びかけた。（写真はツール・ド・フランス、第１ステージ＜ブレストからランデルノー、１９７．８キロメートル＞で起こったクラッシュで負傷したＢ＆Ｂホテルズ・ＫＴＭのブリアン・コカール＜中央右＞ら）
　選手が次々に落車した２６日の事故では、道路に乗りだしていた観客の女性が原因になった。女性はドイツ語で「おばあちゃん、おじいちゃん」と書かれたプラカードを手にしたまま、迫ってくる集団に背を向け、テレビの中継カメラの方だけを見ていた。
　その直後、集団の先頭付近を走っていたチーム・ユンボ・ビスマのトニー・マルティン（ドイツ）が、道路にはみ出していたプラカードにぶつかって落車。そこから倒れたバイクと選手にさえぎられて他選手も次々に落車する恐ろしい大事故に発展した。
　フランス国家憲兵隊のジョエル・シェレル中佐はＡＦＰに対して、「ツールの大きな課題は沿道の警備だ」とコメント。別の警官は、ツールをはじめとする自転車レースでは「死者ゼロ人」が最低限の任務だと話した。
　黄色い上着を着た問題の女性は、事の重大さに気づくと恐ろしさにふらつき、折りたたんだカードを脇に抱えて観衆の奥へと消えた。
　シェレル中佐によると、女性を確保した後は過失傷害の罪で訴追する方針だという。
　大会副ディレクターのピエールイブ・トゥー氏も「われわれは、不適切な行動を取ったこの女性を訴える」と発言。「ごく一部の人間の行動でみんなの大会が台無しにならないようにするためだ」と述べている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】


〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/06/29-14:20）

French police appealed for witnesses Sunday as they launched a probe into the giant domino-effect pile-up that marred the opening stage at the Tour de France, caused by a spectator who leant into the path of the speeding peloton holding up a sign.
The woman held up a sign with 'Granny and Grandad' written in German and looked up the road towards the race's motorbike cameras, crucially, with her back to the speeding peloton.
German rider Tony Martin brushed into her, lost his balance and fell, causing a sickening wave of falls that swept through most of the peloton, leaving them in a tangled mess of bikes and bodies.
The major issue on the Tour is road security, lieutenant-colonel Joel Scherer of the French Gendarmerie told AFP on Sunday.
Another policeman told AFP 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.
DSM's German rider Jasha Sutterlin was the only cyclist who had to pull out at once, his Tour de France dream ruined on day one.
- 'Bad behaviour' -
Eight other riders needed treatment from the official doctor and a host of others were treated for grazes, bruises and cuts caused by the pile-up.
Italian champion Sonny Colbrelli and Dutch rider Wout van Aert, who ran over Martin before falling head over heels, had both been among the favourites to win the first stage.
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.
The police said that when they catch the culprit they intend to charge her with unintentional short-term injury through a manifestly deliberate breach of a duty of safety or care, lieutenant-colonel Scherer said.
We can confirm that no member of the public was injured and we have liaised with the race organisers on this.
The Tour started on Saturday from the Atlantic port of Brest.
Following the relaxation of French coronavirus restrictions the public turning out in massive numbers along the narrow Brittany roads for a stage eventually won by Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe.
We witnessed inadmissable behaviour today (Saturday) with people running across the road in front of the race and children left to their own devices, race director Christian Prudhomme told French media. You come here to see heroes. If you want to see yourself look in the mirror.
On Sunday, four official race vehicles preceded the peloton, which set off minus three more riders who were hurt in a separate crash later on Saturday, warning over-excited roadside fans to keep their distance.
We are telling people to keep off the route and to control their children, Scherer said.
Some 500 gendarmes were amongst the 14,000 strong security forces along the 183.5km route Sunday.
Despite these efforts the peloton had to slow down in sections due to massed ranks of spectators along Brittany's Cote d'Armour coast spilling onto the course and narrowing it significantly.
Earlier youths had set off flares and fireworks by the roadside at the moment the riders were speeding past them.