Woman Hit By Motorcycle At Tour de France, Dies

BESANCON, France — A woman crossing the road during the Tour de France was killed Saturday when she was hit by a police motorcycle escorting riders. Two other fans were injured after the motorcycle skidded into them.

The accident happened in the early afternoon in Wittelsheim in eastern France during the 14th stage, a 124-mile route from Colmar to Besancon. A few breakaway riders had just ridden through the town center, Tour organizers said.

Organizers identified the victim as a 61-year-old woman. Race medical teams treated her immediately before emergency staffers arrived.

The accident happened 24 miles into the stage. After hitting the woman, the motorcycle skidded into two other fans. A 36-year-old complained of neck pain, and a 61-year-old broke a leg. They were taken to a hospital and are not in serious condition, Renard said. They were identified only by age.

Seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong expressed condolences to the woman's family on his Twitter feed.

"There's many close calls between riders and spectators ... Sad news. May she RIP," he wrote.

Lt. Col. Thierry Renard said the officer on the motorcycle was a member of France's elite Republican Guard and he was unable to avoid the woman.

The officer headed the Guard's "yellow flags" unit at the Tour, made up of experienced drivers, Tour director Christian Prudhomme said. Their job is to spot obstacles on the road and clear the path for the rider pack. The officers often drive at high speeds.

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Renard said he had no reason to question the driving of the motorcyclist, who had already worked on the Tour several times.

Tour organizers will use a previously scheduled commemoration before Sunday's 15th stage in Pontarlier to honor the woman. The minute of silence was already planned to remember a young cycling fan from the region who died in a car crash last month.

Deadly accidents are rare on the Tour de France. One boy was killed in 2000 and another in 2002 after being hit by sponsors' vehicles.

Tour organizers responded by reducing the number of sponsor vehicles on the course. For every race stage, an alternate itinerary is provided to relieve vehicle congestion.

"Security is the priority of Tour de France organizers," Prudhomme said. "There is absolutely no doubt about that."

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux ordered a police inquiry and reminded spectators to take all precautions. A total of 23,000 police officers are deployed on the Tour.

The motorcycle accident came a day after two riders were slightly injured by shots from what French authorities suspect was an air rifle.

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Associated Press Writers Deborah Seward and Matthieu Wintrebert in Paris contributed to this report.

Comments

[OkieIntellectual]

Tragic, but then again, these are the same people who stand right at the edge of the road on the outside of a turn watching those rally car and GPX road races. They get taken out by the pack-full all the time when the drivers take a turn a little too hard and end up sliding into like 20 people.

[jimbeaux1961]

Was she wearing a helmet?

[GlenRast]

While walking across the road? Do you?

[Ex-Liberal]

Why did the woman cross the road?

To get to the other side.

[indy100]

Ouch. That's just wrong, but funny.....

[lillibet38]

You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not know the Tour was in town. There is no way that this lady was just "walking to the store." My husband and I went in 2003 and it was absolute mayhem (in a fun way, though). It is not just the French acting crazy. People from all over the world are there! If you've never been there you have NO idea how crazy it is! That lady was clearly in the wrong. It's terrible that she died, but running across the road during the tour is equal to trying to run across a major highway!

[Merckx]

15 to 20 million live spectators each year, up to 800 million daily TV audience, 23,000 police officers.
This is quite simply the largest sporting event on earth. The positive economic impact on France is HUGE.
If you look at the number of people killed at parades over the years by floats, etc. the safety record of the Tour is impressive. In any given large metropolitan area over a 3 week period, pedestrians are killed by passing traffic. The fact that Tour fatalities is so low is amazing.

[Saidas]

Darwinism at work.

[nightwind928]

I guess you could say she was french toast.

[Sean 6399]

When will this cruel and inhumane "sport" be stopped?!?

[Furby]

I know what you mean, all those innocent bicycles being ridden that hard is bound to make them pop a sprocket sooner or later. Where's PETB when you need them?

[csavage]

Being repressed by the massive cycling lobby....

[AlexFTW]

Finally they report on this. I've known about it since yesterday!

[duxguts]

Were drugs involved?

[Bitsko]

Another innocent victim of the cops.

[teembee]

The whole thing looks chaotic and haphazard. Bottom line is that there is a race going on with people on the race track. What do you expect?

[GoDogGo]

What's surprising is that this doesn't happen more often. The motorcycles and cars follow far too close to the racers and the fans are often inebriated or chasing freebies thrown from publicity cars. The combination is a recipe for fatalities.

That said, it's ultimately this poor woman's responsibility to look before stepping into a street. The other spectators hurt by her actions make this tragedy worse than it already was.

[talkingdog]

It's Obama's fault!

[mimigrammy]

Sad! Crossing the street at such a dangerous time. This was the last bad decision she will ever make. Blessings to her family and friends.

[bascombe]

I think condolences are in order. blessings?