BREST, France: The spectator who caused a massive crash of bicycle riders on the opening day of the Tour de France has been arrested, a source close to the investigation said on Wednesday.

“The woman has been formally identified and she was taken into police custody a few minutes ago,” the source told AFP. The public prosecutor for the city of Brest in Brittany also announced that “a suspect is in custody”.

On Saturday, a woman holding up a cardboard sign on the side of the road between Brest and Landerneau knocked down German runner Tony Martin, who in turn knocked down dozens of runners behind him.

The crash delayed the race for five minutes as it took some time to untangle the bikes and bodies.

The incident and a series of accidents on the second and third stages of the race angered the teams and led the entire peloton to symbolically demonstrate, stopping briefly at a predetermined point, at the start of the fourth stage on Tuesday.