Tour de France TV car crackup brings new rules, investigation
| Carmaux, France
Two days after a French television car caused two riders to crash at the Tour de France, race organizers, team officials, and police are dealing with the aftermath.
Spanish rider Juan Antonio Flecha was clipped by the car during a breakaway in Sunday鈥檚 Stage 9. Before tumbling over his handlebars, Mr. Flecha slid into Holland鈥檚 Johnny Hoogerland, who flew into a barbed wire fence along the small country road. The duo managed to finish the stage despite their injuries.
The wreck was the second media-related crash of this year鈥檚 Tour de France. During last Wednesday鈥檚 stage 5, a photo motorcycle knocked Denmark鈥檚 Nicki Sorenson off his bike. Last year, Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen ran into a cameraman after crossing the finish line during stage six of the 2010 Tour and was taken to a hospital with back injuries.
Between cycling teams, organizers, police, and media, nearly 170 cars and motorcycles are on the course each stage. Many, like the France T茅l茅visions car that clipped Flecha, are authorized to drive around the peloton throughout the day.
But Tuesday brought new restrictions for media vehicles on the course, including a mandate that cars must keep a two-minute distance from the race when roads permit.
鈥淲hat we witnessed two days ago was both unacceptable and shocking,鈥� said Jean-Fran莽ois Pescheux, the race鈥檚 director of competition.
Flecha, a rider for Britain鈥檚 Team Sky, spent Monday morning undergoing X-rays in a local hospital. He arrived at an afternoon press conference heavily bandaged. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 heard anything from the driver,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know his name.鈥�
The driver is known to French police, however.
Police spent yesterday interviewing witnesses, riders, and even the driver, though neither investigators nor Tour de France officials have released his or her name.
Whether legal action will be taken remains to be seen.
Team Sky director Dave Brailsford said yesterday that his British squad was looking into 鈥渁ll their options.鈥�
鈥淚t was plain for everyone to see that the crash shouldn鈥檛 have happened and we鈥檙e working with organizers to establish what the facts are,鈥� he said. 鈥淥nce we have the facts, we can decide what we鈥檙e going to do, if the police can do something.鈥�
The legal plans of Mr. Hoogerland and his Vacansoleil squad are less clear.
Before Tuesday鈥檚 Stage 10 鈥� which was won in a sprint finish by German Andre Greipel 鈥� Vacansoleil officials said they would wait until the Tour concludes to decide about any further action.
鈥淣obody can be blamed for this,鈥� Hoogerland, who received 33 stitches following the spill, told Agence France-Presse. "It's a horrible accident and I was in it. I said to Flecha, 'We're still alive and Wouter Weylandt died in a crash.'鈥�
Mr. Weylandt, a Belgian rider, was killed on a descent during May鈥檚 Giro D鈥橧talia.
