A knife-wielding attacker was shot in the leg by police in the run-up to yesterday's Tour de France finish in Rouen.
According to French outlet Le Parisien, the attacker was a 21-year-old man, who appeared disorientated and was on the run from a hospital. He had allegedly threatened people and stabbed a police officer as the crowd waited for riders to arrive on stage four, which was won by UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Tadej Pogačar.
The officer stabbed was a member of the French riot police – the Republican Security Corps (CRS) – and was wearing a chest protector that enabled him to walk away uninjured.
The incident began with the suspect threatening spectators with a knife before being pursued by officers on foot. In the ensuing struggle an officer was stabbed, leading to another officer shooting the suspect in the leg. He then received medical attention.
Concerns for the safety of riders and teams had been sparked by the large crowds that had gathered at the foot of the brutal final climb in the Norman city of Rouen – crowds that, once the riders had passed, ran en masse towards the finish line to see Pogačar win and then beyond to the team buses.
"Thanks to his chest protector, the riot police officer was not injured. Seeing his colleague under attacked, another riot police officer fired a shot," multiple French media reported public prosecutor Sébastien Gallois as saying.
The suspect, said police, had been "lightly injured".
It had been an ugly prelude to a thrilling finale to yesterday's stage, which began in Amiens Métropole and transported riders 174km south-west to the cathedral city of Rouen – the capital of Normandy.
A major climb towards the finish in the last six kilometres saw the GC favourites come out to play for the first time since the beginning of the Tour de France, with Tadej Pogačar attacking on the climb after an impressive lead-out from team-mate Joāo Almeida and capably followed – presumably to most people's immense relief – by a strong-looking Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
The pair opened a small gap but were caught by a handful of stage and GC hopefuls before the finish – including an impressive-looking Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL). Pogačar prevailed in the sprint, ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and third-placed Vingegaard.
