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S*** HITS THE FAN
THE TOUR DE FRANCE was thrown into chaos after a fan caused a massive crash that wiped out half of the peloton.
Just minutes after Christian Prudhomme had set the 108th edition of the annual bike race in motion, there was carnage on stage one.
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Tony Martin, 36, went down first after he was taken out by a member of the public.
The spectator was stood holding up a cardboard sign with ‘Allez Opi-Omi!’ written on it in black marker.
It translates to 'Come on granddad-granny', in a mix of French and German.
The fan was looking straight at the TV camera on the passing bike and failed to notice the riders rapidly approaching her spot.
Martin, on the right-hand side of the peleton, had no way to avoid her and went down after crashing into her arm taking the whole Jumbo Visma team with him.
Arnaud Demare, Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi and Sonny Colbrelli were all among the riders involved in the pile-up.
And fans on social media were quick to blame the supporter who caused the crash as one tweeted: "Absolutely terribe!"
Another joked: "Great to see spectators back involved in sports eh?" while a third added: "She needs some jail time!!!"
Four-time winner Chris Froome - who was returning to the Tour as a support rider for the first time since his career-changing 2019 smash - was later involved in a crash of his own.
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The 36-year-old suffered a nasty fall while Andre Greipel was also taken out onto the grass verge on the right-hand side of the road.
Froome did managed to mount his bike once again to finish after he was given the once-over by doctors.
Meanwhile, world champion Julian Alaphilippe ultimately became the first French rider in 20 years to win the opening stage of the Tour de France.
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