She ran, but could not hide.
The gendarmes reportedly have collared the spectator believed to have caused that big pileup on day one of the Tour de France.
The charge — involuntarily causing injury — carries a fine of 1,500 euros. But race organizers and athletes have threatened legal action of their own.
So, yeah, could be an expensive day at the race for this person. Maybe Opi and Omi will chip in so their granddaughter doesn’t have to spend the rest of her life holding a cardboard placard at roadside, and sleeping there, too.
Meanwhile, on this side of the pond, it’s been a week since I’ve seen any followups on the Show Low incident. Has the driver been charged? Not that I can see from my perch high atop the Duke City Innertubes.
I know Arizona has a couple dozen wildfires raging, plus an ongoing “election audit” by Ringling Bros-Barnum & Bailey. And Bike the Bluff isn’t exactly Le Tour.
But still, damn. You’d think this dude would’ve been written up for an illegal lane change or littering by now.
Tags: Bike the Bluff, Tour de France
Mad Blog Media 
June 30, 2021 at 8:55 am |
So I see the same course of action for both incidents: Each of the riders who biffed get to line up and take a Fourth Down & 20 punt at the offender’s genitalia.
Gives new meaning to Impact Statement.
June 30, 2021 at 9:02 am |
This I like. Avoids the failings of prosecutors, the whims of juries, and prison overcrowding.
June 30, 2021 at 9:19 am |
Seems there is a long litany of incompetence at Le Tour as far as crowd control. Especially since so many spectators are guilty of Watching While Stupid.
As far as the Show Low? Maybe they are waiting till our good driver candidate is discharged to arrest him.
June 30, 2021 at 9:30 am |
Remember when a sprinter centerpunched the photo-snapping gendarme? Those were the days.
June 30, 2021 at 9:58 am |
Oh, yeah. And the time Armstrong got tangled up with a spectator’s musette bag?
More vivid in my memory is the day I was working a crit in Hawaii as a course marshal. Just as the bunch was coming around a curve, this big old homeless Hawaiian man pushing his life’s belongings in a shopping cart decided to cross the street. I managed to divert the bunch but I thought it was going to be the Mother of All Crashes (or should I say “the birthing person of all crashes” as to not offend the non-binary?)
As the release form says, bicycle racing includes intrinsic hazards…
June 30, 2021 at 1:10 pm |
2005, believe was Jon Vaughter’s first year piloting a team car. He’d been running 5280/Subaru the year before, so maybe 2005 was just his first year in the big leagues. Regardless, at the Tour de Georgia, he almost hit me twice taking a corner too fast. Thought I had a nice safe spot on a gentle turn so I could see them coming with some pretty good stand-off. But JV came flying like he was at LeMans, half the car in the gravel.
Still, he wasn’t as bad as whomever was steering the Jittery Joe’s wagon. They were co-sponsored by Henry Aaron’s BMW dealership and drove 3-door Mini Cooper hatchbacks. Great marketing move, cuz those little things really stood out. But they were so tight inside, and the driver had so many blind spots.
June 30, 2021 at 2:24 pm |
i remember those mini coopers. on the climb up brasstown bald all i could smell was clutch cooking.
June 30, 2021 at 4:53 pm
Photo #14.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B10Gd59qiGcno0G
June 30, 2021 at 4:56 pm
Loved that team. No idea how Jittery Joe’s pulled it off those 3-4 years they were on the scene. Seemed like you always saw JJ and Jelly Belly hanging out together.
June 30, 2021 at 4:58 pm
Hmmm … #14 on my iPad, but #5 on my phone. Whatever, it’s the only team car photo in the album.
June 30, 2021 at 2:42 pm |
One year I was riding support motorcycle for the Dick Evans Memorial Race on Oahu. I went back to check on a following group and got caught in a shitstorm of traffic and couldn’t get back to the front of the race. An HPD motorcycle cop came along (we had support from a bunch of them) and he said “follow me”. He put on the lights and sirens and we split the Red Sea going back to the front at about 70 mph in a 35 zone. Was fun.
June 30, 2021 at 9:23 am |
Perhaps we should ask someone who lives in Arizona about the Show Low incident and election “audit?” Or, at least ask someone willing to admit they live in Aridzona.
June 30, 2021 at 9:28 am |
Hmm. Now who do we know who lives in Aridzona? No, don’t tell me, I’m keen to guess. …
June 30, 2021 at 12:53 pm |
Defense attorney: “Would a cardboard sign have taken out Peter Sagan?”
UCI Rep: “No.”
Defense attorney: “Would a cardboard sign have taken out Mark Cavendish?”
UCI Rep: “No.”
Defense attorney: “Would a cardboard sign have taken out anyone who raced from 1903 until around 1980?”
UCI Rep: “Of course not. Those boys were animals.”
Defense Atty: “And is Tony Martin considered a time trail specialist, known for racing by himself in a straight line?”
UCI: “Well, yes, I guess so.”
Defense Atty: “Your honor, the defense rests, and we petition the court to enroll Mr. Martin in his neighborhood Safe to Schools bike riding course.”
June 30, 2021 at 2:12 pm |
I think it was an arm.not just the sign that spun his bars to the right and took him down. Too bad the arm didn’t break like the gendarme’s leg. Peter and Cav wouldn’t have passed the test. Dirty Robbie would have broken his line, took the guys to the left, including Stewie, down, then punched the women in the face on the way to the win.
July 1, 2021 at 2:02 am |
I’ve found that if you just let the bike go, it does pretty well staying upright. A whole lot of MTB’ing forces you to discover that. It’s when you involve the brain that loss of gravity control (respect) occurs. A human arm held out straight holding a sign has significantly less mass to resist 80 kilos of determined rider and bike. With the proper respect for Mr. Martin and some rocking chair analysis, me thinks many of the other riders in the peloton would have fared better deflecting the sign culprit into the ditch.
July 1, 2021 at 2:18 am |
I went back and looked at the video of the Martin-sign culprit crash. Did anybody else notice that the Jumbo rider behind Martin drinking out of a water bottle, never did let go of the bottle even after he’d lost his bike and was getting up from the ground. I guess he didn’t want to get fined by the UCI for tossing the bottle in a non-toss-the-bottle location.
June 30, 2021 at 1:49 pm |
If they can’t get him on littering, there’s always creating a nuisance.
June 30, 2021 at 2:19 pm |
More from the kiddos:
• If I raced the Tour de France, I would want to win the green jersey, cuz it’s the Kiss Me I’m Irish jersey.
• Do they have more than one jersey and shorts, because I don’t want to see that one guy’s butt again today.
• When they throw away their water bottles, are they trying to scare back anyone with a cardboard sign?
• (Watching the time trial and noticing their aero helmets) Now I know where Star Wars got the idea for those silly imperial helmets.
And my favorite of the week so far:
• Bob Roll has the perfect name for someone who rides his bike for a living.
July 1, 2021 at 7:21 am |
Chapeau! Better comments than we ever got from the Phil & Paul Show back in the day!
July 1, 2021 at 8:06 am |
The jersey-and-shorts bit is tip-top.
July 1, 2021 at 11:58 am |
Update: The older girl now has his sister convinced Cav is wearing the Kiss Me I’m Irish jersey.
July 2, 2021 at 6:24 am |
Last I read on the Show Low driver it was questionable if he would make it. If any of the hospital staff are cyclists that might explain why he’s not recovering.
July 2, 2021 at 7:14 am |
Where are you finding your updates? I’m coming up empty here.
I always want to know the “why” of these things. But we so rarely get any kind of explanation.
July 2, 2021 at 10:52 am |
I go back to the old articles to check for updates. The original article you posted had updates on the cyclists and the driver.