And fortunately commonsense has prevailed and she has been released. TDF organisers will not sue either. Down to individual riders/teams now.
GT has risen further in my esteem:
Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe have expressed sympathy for the spectator holding the cardboard sign involved in the huge crash during the opening stage of the Tour de France. Speaking on their
Watts Occurring(link is external) podcast, Thomas called talks of the woman being sent to prison for a year as "ridiculous" and joked Jumbo-Visma domestique Tony Martin could be imprisoned for two months.
"Let's be honest, Tony could have moved left, at least a little," Thomas said. " It looked like he saw it and thought, 'I can ride through that'. It's her fault, but at the same time he has a part to play. Put him in prison for two months then, at that rate. That is absolutely ridiculous. She can't go to prison."
Co-host and fellow Ineos Grenadiers rider Luke Rowe added: "She farked up massively. She did something stupid and caused a massive crash, there's no avoiding those facts. But they're talking about a €15,000 fine and a year imprisonment. I just feel sorry for the woman to be honest.
"She is in the middle of all this hate on social media. It was all over Facebook, they were searching for her. They finally got her, take it down to a human level and think, 'that poor woman'. She's going to feel bad enough about it. Imagine being in prison and someone asks what are you in for? Murder? Theft? 'Nah, I went to the Tour de France with a sign that said hello to my grandparents.'"
