Woman dies in accident, Ivanov takes stage

BESANCON, France, (Reuters) – The Tour de France was  marred by the death of a spectator yesterday as Russian  Serguei Ivanov won the 14th stage, a 199-km ride from Colmar.

A gendarmerie officer, who declined to be named, said that  according to witnesses 61-year-old Jeannette Stoeffel had been  seen crossing the road many times before she was hit by a  motorcycle involved with the race.

Two other people were injured when they were hit by the  motorcycle but their lives were not in danger, officials said. It was the first fatal accident on the Tour since a child  died in 2002 after being hit by a car from the publicity  caravan. There will be a minute silence before today’s stage.

The accident near the town of Wittelsheim, 38.5 km into the  stage, happened shortly after a 12-man breakaway, featuring  American George Hincapie, went past the crowd.

The group built up an advantage of eight minutes 40 seconds  as the Astana team set up a leisurely pace in front of the pack.

GREAT WORK

The AG2r-La Mondiale team, defending Italy’s Rinaldo  Nocentini’s yellow jersey, started to work some 50 km from the  finish and were able to keep him in the overall lead.

“I want to thank my team mates,” Nocentini, who has been in  yellow for eight days, told reporters.

“They have been doing great work.”

Nocentini now leads Hincapie by five seconds with Spain’s  Alberto Contador in third place, also six seconds off the pace. Seven-times champion Lance Armstrong slipped to fourth,  eight seconds adrift of Nocentini, but the positions are  expected to be upset by Sunday’s first Alpine stage to the Swiss  ski resort of Verbier.

Ivanov attacked the breakaway group with just over 10 km  remaining and never looked back, beating Ireland’s Nicolas Roche  and New Zealand’s Hayden Roulston, second and third  respectively, by 16 seconds.

“I waited for the right moment (to attack). I surprised some  riders and at that point I just gave everything I had,” Ivanov,  who won a Tour stage in 2001, told reporters.

“I have been waiting for this one for so long. Today’s win  is amazing.”

Spain’s Oscar Freire and Julian Dean of New Zealand started  the stage after they were shot and slightly injured during  Friday’s ride. Police investigating the incident said they were  hunting two teenagers.