The woman who caused a crash at the Tour de France will be sued once police find her, official says

• A woman holding a large sign caused Tour de France cyclists to crash on Saturday.
• Race organizers say they will sue the spectator, Agence France-Presse reported.
• The woman fled the scene, regional paper Ouest France reported.

The woman who caused a huge crash at the Tour de France race on Saturday will be sued, the race organizer said.

"We are suing this woman who behaved so badly," Pierre-Yves Thouault, the event's deputy director, told Agence France-Presse. "We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don't spoil the show for everyone."

On Saturday, a spectator held up a large cardboard sign sticking out into the middle of the road. Tony Martin on the Jumbo-Visma team hit the sign. It read "ALLEZ OPI-OMI!" - a message saying hello to the person's grandparents.

Martin's crash caused a chain reaction in which dozens of cyclists fell onto the pavement. The woman appeared to be looking at the TV cameras, not the riders.

Several cyclists continued with injuries including bloody arms and legs. Others, such as Jasha Sütterlin of Team DSM, had to stop. Sütterlin was taken to the hospital to be examined and suffered a severe contusion to his right wrist, a statement said.

A second crash happened later on a few miles down the road but the cause was unclear.

Quoting regional newspaper Ouest France, AFP reported that the woman fled the scene. The woman can be seen with a yellow coat, and authorities are calling on witnesses to come forward to help find her, the BBC reported.