Tour de France chaos as police arrest knife-wielding man during cycling event
The incident occurred during the fourth stage of the iconic cycling event, from Amiens to Rouen. Valeurs Actuelles claim a police offer suffered a minor hand injury during the incident.
It's said that officers quickly intervened to neutralise the man, who was 'making threats'.
and Mirror Sport will bring you the very latest updates, pictures and video as soon as possible.
check back regularly for updates on this developing story.
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BBC News
11 hours ago
- BBC News
Ineos carer facing doping probe worked at Man Utd
The Ineos Grenadiers staff member who left the Tour de France after being asked to speak to the International Testing Agency (ITA) about doping allegations relating to the 2012 season worked at Manchester United last cycling team confirmed David Rozman had received an interview request from the ITA after initially being contacted in April, and "stepped back" from Tour duties last Slovenian is one of Ineos' soigneurs, a role that involves working as an assistant to riders and providing a range of services from logistics to has now emerged Rozman worked alongside United's soft tissue therapists for a one month placement in 2024 as part of a 'knowledge exchange' after Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner of the Sport has been told United had no knowledge of the recently published historic allegations and insiders claim they have no involvement in declined to comment. Ineos have been approached for comment. Ineos Grenadiers, then known as Team Sky, won the 2012 Tour de France, with Britain's Bradley Wiggins claiming the yellow jersey, and the team went on to win six of the next seven editions of the cycling team has confirmed that Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications, claiming that it then commissioned a review by an external law a statement at the time it said: "The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team."The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA. To date the team has received no evidence from any relevant authority."Both David and the team will of course co-operate with the ITA and any other authority."Earlier in July, the Irish Independent reported that in 2012, Rozman had exchanged messages with convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt.A documentary by German TV company ARD also linked Ineos to Schmidt but did not name the staff member 2021, Schmidt was sentenced to four years and 10 months in jail after being convicted of administering illegal blood transfusions to athletes within cycling and a number of other sports as part of Operation contacted by BBC Sport, the ITA said its investigations are "conducted confidentially" and "outcomes may only be shared if and when it yields the pursuit of one or more anti-doping rule violations."In June, Ineos director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford scaled back his involvement with Manchester United, having previously played a key role in football stepped down as team principal of Ineos Grenadiers after Ratcliffe acquired his stake in United but has returned to a key role at the cycling team and was present at this year's Tour de 61-year-old oversaw a sustained period of success at British Cycling and Team Sky and became synonymous with the 'marginal gains' his career has involved several controversies. Dr Richard Freeman - the former chief medic at both British Cycling and Team Sky - was banned from all sport for four years for violating anti-doping rules in August 2018, Brailsford appeared before a parliamentary committee to answer questions on the contents of a mystery "jiffy bag" Freeman had instructed be delivered to Wiggins before a 2011 race, amid an allegation it contained the banned anti-inflammatory drug followed the revelation Wiggins received therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for triamcinolone to treat asthma and allergies shortly before three major and Brailsford maintained the bag contained legal flu medication, and ultimately a parliamentary committee said it was unable to determine what was inside the jiffy a final report in 2018, the MPs accused Team Sky of "crossing an ethical line" in its use of TUEs more British Cycling, Team Sky and Ineos have always denied any wrongdoing.
Telegraph
17 hours ago
- Telegraph
Ineos staff member linked to doping worked at Manchester United
David Rozman, the Ineos Grenadiers head carer who was sent home from the recent Tour de France after becoming the subject of a doping investigation, spent a few weeks last season working with Manchester United, it has emerged. Rozman, a Slovenian, is alleged to have sent text messages to a German doping doctor, Mark Schmidt, in June 2012, shortly before Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British man to win the Tour de France. Schmidt had worked for a team called Milram that, prior to its disbandment in 2010, had been rocked by doping scandals. Rozman spent four weeks last year working as part of an exchange programme introduced after Ineos co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe took control of Manchester United. The allegations regarding the Slovenian stem from a documentary by German TV outlet ARD, which was broadcast before the Tour de France and which drew on court transcripts and in-court reporting during the infamous Aderlass hearings. Those hearings resulted in Schmidt being jailed in 2021 for orchestrating a doping ring revolving around cross-country skiers and multiple cyclists between 2012 and 2019. Although Rozman was not named in the documentary, and was merely referred to as a longstanding member of Ineos Grenadiers, the Irish Independent subsequently named him, as well as publishing some of the messages referred to in court. In one of them, Rozman allegedly asked Schmidt: 'Do you still have any of the stuff that Milram used during the races? If so, can you bring it for the boys?' Ineos Grenadiers initially declined to comment after Rozman was named. Sir Dave Brailsford, who was in charge of what was then called Team Sky in 2012 and is now the head of Ineos Sport, was back at the race for the first time since leaving his role at Manchester United, where he was one of Ratcliffe's most senior lieutenants. But he refused to speak to journalists. A team spokesperson later admitted that Rozman had been informally contacted by the International Testing Agency [ITA] in April and that the team had 'promptly' launched their own review by an external law firm. Rozman is yet to comment on these allegations. Rozman's time with Manchester United is understood not to have coincided with these developments. 'David Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications,' read an Ineos Grenadiers statement. 'David immediately notified the team of his meeting with the ITA and his recollection of the contents of the meeting. Although the ITA assured David at the time that he was not under investigation, Ineos promptly commissioned a thorough review by an external law firm. 'The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team. The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA.'
The Independent
19 hours ago
- The Independent
End of an era for Tour de France poses vital question to British cycling's future
Eleven British riders entered this summer's Tour de France, equalling last year's record-breaking tally. Those ranged from the retiring Geraint Thomas, once the youngest rider in the Tour and now the oldest, to 22-year-old debutant Joe Blackmore, who was four when Thomas made his maiden appearance. At 39, Thomas was the oldest Brit in the race by some seven years, with the Yates twins the only others in their thirties. 'It's more of a young man's sport these days, and I'm too old,' he said. This Tour de France marked the end of an era, in several ways. Thomas' impending retirement – he will officially bring the curtain down in September at the Tour of Britain – marks the end of one of British cycling 's most illustrious careers. It also essentially severs the link between the current generation of British riders and the old guard, as the years dominated by Team Sky recede into ancient history. Of Thomas' original British contemporaries at the super-team Bradley Wiggins, Ian Stannard, Pete Kennaugh and Steve Cummings have long since retired. Chris Froome carries on but as a shadow of the rider he was, and Ben Swift – then a fresh-faced 22-year-old – remains at Ineos Grenadiers, now an elder statesman. Mark Cavendish has transitioned into a Tour de France ambassador; Luke Rowe has moved into a directeur sportif role. British cycling now has a younger face. Thomas' retirement comes at just the time as several dazzling new prospects are emerging. He effectively handed the baton of yellow jersey hopeful over to 22-year-old Oscar Onley, the level-headed Scotsman who shone throughout this Tour, finishing fourth on his first attempt at riding for a general classification result. 'It's sparked a bit of a dream,' the Kelso rider admitted afterwards. On the basis of his performances this year, that dream could well become a reality. Not present in France but also part of this wave of British talent are 19-year-old Matthew Brennan, single-handedly responsible for nearly a third of Visma-Lease a Bike's wins this year; Onley's teammate Max Poole, also 22 and another future stage race hopeful; Josh Tarling, 21 and already one of the world's best time triallists; and Tom Pidcock, perhaps the most famous of the current generation of talented Brits. But this Tour de France marked a monumental shift in more ways than one. It brought an end to four decades of free-to-air coverage of cycling's biggest race in the UK, after ITV – having broadcast it for 25 years, taking over from Channel 4 – opted not to bid for the rights from the 2026 edition. The next generation may struggle to realise their dreams in the way the likes of Brennan and Onley can. Cycling was mainstream in the UK throughout the 2010s, with the Tour de France making its Grand Depart in Yorkshire in 2014 and British riders dominating the top step of the podium. Now it has been pushed to the fringes. From next year the Tour de France will be inaccessible to anyone not paying £30.99 a month to TNT Sports, the television and streaming behemoth that snapped up exclusive rights. Having swallowed up Eurosport – which had previously also broadcast cycling – TNT Sports nearly quintupled the subscription fee, from £6.99 a month to £30.99. A day after the end of this year's race it announced a further price restructuring, which viewers only interested in sport will have to manually opt out of to avoid being slapped with a near 10% price hike. By the time the Tour next rolls around subscriptions may well have gone up even further. While that means a handsome profit for a multinational corporation, it also means half the magic of the Tour is lost. No more flicking through channels and stumbling across bike racing; no more falling down the rabbit hole of one of the world's most esoteric, mystifying sports. And no more inspiration for the Geraint Thomases and Oscar Onleys of the future. Coventry-born 24-year-old Jake Stewart, who rode his second Tour this year, previously told the BBC that, 'When I started out [riding] it was much more for the social side. It was never really an ambition. But it was [watching] the 2009 Tour de France that really got me into the sport and lit the fire.' Onley, who was inspired to start cycling by watching the Kelso Wheelers' time trial route pass by his childhood home, told ITV4: 'My mum would always watch the Tour on TV every year. My first memories were the battles between Contador and Schleck, up the Tourmalet in the mist. There must have been something there that made me want to get on a bike.' David Millar, who for many years was the only British rider at the Tour, went from winning stages at all three Grand Tours to commentating on ITV4's coverage. 'It's been a great privilege to be part of the same team who got me into the Tour 33 years ago during my summer holidays in the UK,' he wrote on social media after free-to-air came to an end. The young Millar grew up in Hong Kong and became a cyclist comparatively late; he may never have been inspired to go down that route professionally had it not been for coming across Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen's commentary, Gary Imlach's sardonic remarks, or the iconic theme tune. With the Tour de France set to return to British shores in 2027, this should be the time to get as many eyeballs as possible on the sport, mirroring the boom effect of the 2014 Grand Depart. But the shuttering of free-to-air coverage makes that even more of an uphill task. This end of an era comes at a crucial time for women's racing, too. This year the Tour de France Femmes has been extended to a nine-day race; it has rapidly become the flagship event of the women's calendar and the hordes gathered at the roadside recognise that too. But with the race, and all women's cycling, now locked behind a paywall, a sport that has been starting to thrive in recent years risks becoming stunted, undoing decades of activism and hard work. That is a risk facing the domestic racing scene, too. The number of races, both grassroots and professional, in the UK is dwindling, hit by the never-ending complications of Brexit and the financial squeeze on local authorities and race organisations. That was epitomised when the Tour of Britain, the UK's flagship race, nearly went under last year before British Cycling, the governing body, stepped in to rescue it. The decision to axe free-to-air does not exist in a vacuum. In a sport that cannot rely on endless money and an enormous, devoted audience like football, free coverage has been essential to its growth. Sponsors may be alienated by the lack of coverage and in turn, by the shrinking numbers of fans, with the Tour the only bike race that has ever successfully cut through with a wider audience. The knock-on effects could be catastrophic; I hope they are not. The sport is at a crossroads. Opportunities for young riders are shrinking. Now many will miss out entirely on catching a glimpse of the Tour and getting sucked into the world of bike racing. The current generation has the potential to be golden; but where will the next one come from?
