On June 26, in the town of Sizun, 45 km from the finish of the first stage of the Tour, part of Brest, she waved a sign saying 'Allez Opi, Omi!' while encroaching on the road, her back to the on-coming peloton.
Tony Martin was the first rider to hit her as he manoeuvered within the cramped peloton, smashing into her arm and falling, the start of a mass crash that saw the majority of the main bunch brought to the ground at speed. Jasha Sutterlin and Marc Soler abandoned the race on that stage, with Martin himself abandoning after a series of other crashes.
Martin has since retired from professional cycling, with his concerns over safety in the sport his prime reason for doing so.
The 31-year-old French woman responsible had her sentence handed down with a fine payable, but without the suspended four-month jail sentence that the prosecution had asked for, with the maximum time in jail for the charge of “endangering others” and “unintentional injuries”, up to a year incarceration. She must also pay a symbolic €1 to the French Union of Professional Cyclists (UNCP). She was charged with at a hearing in October.
It was only four days after the incident, and when a call for witnesses had been launched, that she went to the Landerneau gendarmerie and turned herself in. She was immediately taken into custody.
The Brest prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation for "involuntary injuries with incapacity not exceeding three months by manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence".
The Tour de France organisers, ASO, had initially been vocal in saying that they would pursue legal avenues, but dropped their complaint against the woman. Tour de France Race Director Christian Prudhomme said at the time that the incident had been ‘blown out of proportion’.
At the same time, the Professional Cyclists Associates (CPA), based in Switzerland, made its own complaint, with their award being a symbolic €1. "It was a really irresponsible action," said CPA Secretary General Laura Mora, speaking for the only association of cyclists recognised by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
