Cyclists Bryan Coquard and Kristian Sbaragli, and their teams await medical assistance after the accident
(CNN) -
French authorities have launched an investigation after a female fan killed dozens of cyclists during the Tour de France on Saturday.
The disastrous crash was caused by a woman who was on the roadside on the opening stage of the Tour.
He stood in front of the group of cyclists with a cardboard sign, which appeared to show a message for the television cameras.
According to the video of the race, the poster struck the German cyclist Tony Martin, who was at the head of the group.
Martin fell, resulting in the subsequent fall of dozens of cyclists behind him.
The cyclists fell in droves and the crash left bicycles and bodies tangled in the road.
The fall stopped the race for several minutes.
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The authorities of the Finistere area, in western France, opened an investigation into the cause of “involuntary injuries….
for manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation of security or prudence ", according to a statement on Facebook.
Authorities called witnesses, as the woman left the scene before investigators arrived, according to the Facebook post.
A spokesperson for Amaury Sports Organization, the organizer of the Tour de France, confirmed to CNN that the company had filed a complaint with authorities.
Consequences after the accident in the Tour de France
According to the Tour de France website, three riders withdrew from the race after the first stage on Saturday, including German Jasha Sutterlin, who was involved in the accident.
His team, the DSM, said in a statement that Sutterlin "was taken to hospital for evaluation, which revealed that there were no broken bones, but there was a severe contusion to his right wrist that will require further testing at home."
The crash disrupted the race, and it took almost 25 kilometers for the group to fully regroup.
It was the first of the two great crashes of the stage.
The second happened 8 km from the end, in which the four-time champion Chris Froome and many others were involved.
2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins said he had no sympathy for the fan, who perhaps had no intention of causing such a crash.
"They are part of the Tour de France show," Wiggins told Eurosport.
And this year, in particular, to be able to go back on the tour and see it.
I don't know how it is controlled.
AccidentCyclingTour de France
