‘Allez Opi-Omi’: Prosecutors seek four-month suspended jail sentence for women who caused Tour de France crash

Prosecutors ​in France are seeking a four-month suspended prison sentence for the woman who caused a huge crash at the opening stage of this year’s Tour de France in Brittany, causing four riders to abandon the race.

The 31-year-old, from the Finistère department where the opening stage from Brest to Landernau took place, is charged with “endangering others by manifestly deliberate violation of a regulatory obligation of safety and prudence,” causing “involuntary injuries, with incapacity not exceeding three months.”

The maximum penalty she could face is a €15,000 fine and/or 12 months’ imprisonment.

The four-month suspended sentence sought by prosecutors at a hearing at the criminal court in Brest today is intended to serve as a “warning,” reports Le Telegramme.

The court has reserved judgment, with the sentence due to be handed down on 9 December.

Professional riders’ union the CPA has joined the action as a civil party and is seeking token compensation of €1 to reinforce to spectators their responsibility regarding race safety, as is the ANCP, which represents French riders.

> ‘Allez Opi-Omi’ Tour de France fan who caused huge crash asked for €1 compensation from pro riders’ union ahead of court case

Three riders – Cyril Lemoine of B&B Hotels, Groupama-FDJ’s Ignatas Konovalovas and Team DSM’s Jasha Sütterlin – were unable to carry on in the race, while a fourth, Movistar’s Marc Soler, finished the stage but had to abandon afterwards due to injuries sustained in the crash.  

The woman who caused the crash as she held up a sign greeting her grandparents in German fled the scene and handed herself in to gendarmes four days after the incident, which happened on 26 June.

> “I’m ashamed, I regret my stupidity” says spectator who caused Tour de France crash