"Wallah, I'm going to win the race": an individual disrupts the Tour de France (Update: Sofiane sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended. This is his fourth conviction)
The man intercepted last Wednesday in Valence (Drôme) by a police officer as he tried to cross the finish line of the 17th stage of the Tour de France on his bike has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended.
The thirty-year-old, who has already been "convicted three times," is also banned from entering a sports venue for five years, the prosecutor said without providing further details. He will also have to pay €500 in damages to the "victim officer," a police officer who threw him to the ground to arrest him before falling himself. (…)
🚴♂️ ⚖️ | Tour de France: The man who crossed the finish line before the peloton was sentenced to an 8-month suspended prison sentence. He was also banned from attending sporting events and walked free from the court. (Sud Ouest) pic.twitter.com/Mj7U1M7AYO
— Cpasdeslol (@cpasdeslol_X) July 25, 2025
According to Ici Drôme Ardèche , the 31-year-old man, who lives in Montélimar, was taken into custody. Before committing the crime, he filmed himself announcing his actions. A video posted on social media shows him following the race and the runners' progress on his smartphone.
“It’s really going full throttle and he (the eventual winner) thinks he’s going to be the first to cross the finish line,” he says. “He doesn’t know that there’s a guy just behind a barrier, 450 meters from the finish, who’s going to win the race. Wallah, I’m going to win the race.” (…)
Fdesouche
