BESANCON, France, (Reuters) – The Tour de France was marred by the death of a spectator yesterday as Russian Serguei Ivanov won the 14th stage, a 199-km ride from Colmar.
A gendarmerie officer, who declined to be named, said that according to witnesses 61-year-old Jeannette Stoeffel had been seen crossing the road many times before she was hit by a motorcycle involved with the race.
Two other people were injured when they were hit by the motorcycle but their lives were not in danger, officials said. It was the first fatal accident on the Tour since a child died in 2002 after being hit by a car from the publicity caravan. There will be a minute silence before today’s stage.
The accident near the town of Wittelsheim, 38.5 km into the stage, happened shortly after a 12-man breakaway, featuring American George Hincapie, went past the crowd.
The group built up an advantage of eight minutes 40 seconds as the Astana team set up a leisurely pace in front of the pack.
GREAT WORK
The AG2r-La Mondiale team, defending Italy’s Rinaldo Nocentini’s yellow jersey, started to work some 50 km from the finish and were able to keep him in the overall lead.
“I want to thank my team mates,” Nocentini, who has been in yellow for eight days, told reporters.
“They have been doing great work.”
Nocentini now leads Hincapie by five seconds with Spain’s Alberto Contador in third place, also six seconds off the pace. Seven-times champion Lance Armstrong slipped to fourth, eight seconds adrift of Nocentini, but the positions are expected to be upset by Sunday’s first Alpine stage to the Swiss ski resort of Verbier.
Ivanov attacked the breakaway group with just over 10 km remaining and never looked back, beating Ireland’s Nicolas Roche and New Zealand’s Hayden Roulston, second and third respectively, by 16 seconds.
“I waited for the right moment (to attack). I surprised some riders and at that point I just gave everything I had,” Ivanov, who won a Tour stage in 2001, told reporters.
“I have been waiting for this one for so long. Today’s win is amazing.”
Spain’s Oscar Freire and Julian Dean of New Zealand started the stage after they were shot and slightly injured during Friday’s ride. Police investigating the incident said they were hunting two teenagers.
