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Angry dad brings riders crashing
LE PORT, FRANCE: The father of a competitor taking part in the Tour Cycliste Antenne Reunion will appear in court for allegedly putting barriers on the road to deliberately
LE PORT, FRANCE: The father of a competitor taking part in the Tour Cycliste Antenne Reunion will appear in court for allegedly putting barriers on the road to deliberately knock down participants in the race.
A young spectator and several riders were injured in several incidents which provoked drama and chaos on Sunday’s first stage of the race on the French island in the Indian Ocean.
As the peloton arrived in the northwestern commune of Le Port, rivals Enzo Bernard and Jonathan Boyer were sprinting shoulder to shoulder when both fell badly after hitting a security barrier.
Both riders were slightly injured while a child watching on the sidelines had the top of the thumb severed, organisers confirmed.
Boyer’s father demanded that the race be stopped and when organisers refused he allegedly threw two barriers onto the road. “(He) was not under the influence of alcohol at the time and is not known to police. He seemed to have been overcome by a fit of rage,” a police source said.
The leading peloton could not avoid the obstacles and six riders fell, with a South African cyclist suffering broken ribs. In the end organisers decided not to count the times. Bernard was disqualified and fined from provoking “the very serious fall of Boyer”.
