VN ticker: Four-month suspended sentence for ‘Opi-Omi’ fan, Sánchez, Price-Pejtersen join Bahrain
Here's what's making headlines on Thursday, October 14.
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Four-month suspended sentence for ‘Opi-Omi’ fan
A French prosecutor recommended a four-month suspended sentence to the French fan who held a sign up in front of the Tour de France last summer and caused a massive crash in stage 1.
The AFP reports that a judge in Brest will consider a reduced sentence after the 31-year-old local resident admitted to “the dangers of her actions” before a local court in a hearing Thursday.
The woman, who held up a sign that read “Allez Opi-Omi” in a message to her grandparents, was facing up to 15,000 euros and a possible one-year jail sentence.
Also read:
- Riders say it’s ‘too much’ to charge fan
- What the stars said after Stage 1 crash at Tour de France
- CPA joins in legal action against fan
The incident occurred on June 26 in stage 1 near the town of Sizun, about 45km from the finish line.
The woman held a sign up that read, “Allez Opi-Omi,” in front of the approaching peloton. Riders could not avoid her, causing Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) to crash and provoked a domino-effect of falling riders and crashing bikes behind him.
The woman initially went into hiding, but later turned herself in to local authorities.
The incident created headlines around the world, and resulted in several riders crashing, including Jasha Sütterlin (DSM) who abandoned that day, and later Martin.
French prosecutors said because the fan admitted to her error, a reduced sentence will be recommended to a judge on December 9, AFP reported.
Luis León Sánchez, Johan Price-Pejtersen join Bahrain-Victorious
Spanish veteran Luis León Sánchez and Johan Price-Pejtersen join Bahrain-Victorious in the latest deal for the WorldTour team.
“I’m really happy to race for team Bahrain over the next few seasons,” said Sánchez, who raced for 19 seasons. “It’s exciting to join this group of great cyclists and the vision to become one of the best teams in the world. I am sure that with hard work, we will keep a level that has brought so much joy to the team this season.”
Price-Pejtersen joins the WorldTour after winning the U23 world time trial title in Bruges last month with Uno-X Pro Cycling.
The announcement comes a day after Bahrain-Merida confirmed the extension of six riders, including Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao.
🙌 Welcome @LLEONSANCHEZ and @JohanPrice #RideAsOne
🗞️ https://t.co/Pi4TnfisVs pic.twitter.com/D9d0Rabhv5
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) October 14, 2021