The man who rode across the finish line of stage 17 of the Tour de France and was promptly taken out by a policeman has been handed an eight month suspended sentence.
On Wednesday, in the rain of Valence, a man dressed in a Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale jersey, got as far as the line before he was taken out by a member of the Compagnies Republicaines de Securite (CRS), essentially French riot police.
According to local French media, a 31-year-old man from Montélimar, to the south of Valence, was arrested for his actions, which came as the bunch was less than 2km from the finish.
After being brought to the ground by the member of the CRS, the man was bundled off the road, seemingly hurt in the incident. The Tour's organisers, ASO, did not comment on the incident.
AFP then reported that the man was sentenced for "entering a sports competition area and disrupting the competition, refusing to comply and assaulting a person in a position of public authority," according to prosecutor Laurent de Caigny.
The incident occurred just minutes before the stage finish, which was won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).
According to AFP, the man has been convicted three times before, and it now banned from entering any sports venue for five years, the prosecutor added without providing further details.
He was also made to pay €500 euros in damages to the police officer who fell while attempting to stop him.
It was the second time in a week that the race has faced people getting on the finish of the race course, after a pro-Palestine protestor jumped onto the road near the finish line in Toulouse on stage 11.
