Ivanov’s win marred by Tour de France fan’s death

A superb break saw Russia's Sergei Ivanov win stage 14 between Colmar and Besancon but the Tour de France race was marred yesterday with the death of a spectator. Ivanov broke away from a group of 12 riders in the last 10 km of the 199km route to win the race.

Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini kept his green jersey for an eighth day in a row as Astana's co-leaders Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong continued to hang back, at third and fourth in the overall standings.

At Wittelsheim, 38km into the race, a 61-year-old woman was killed and two other spectators were injured when they were hit by a police cyclist. The woman was hit by the Garde Républicaine bike as she crossed the road. It is the first fatality in the Tour de France since a child was killed in 2002 by a car from the publicity caravan.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:Richard Williams, the Observer: Competitors often find themselves hindered by fans who run alongside them, or stand in the road, peering at the image on their digital cameras and unaware of the speed of the approaching riders. On Friday afternoon, however, a different sort of threat emerged when two competitors – Julian Dean of New Zealand and Oscar Freire of Spain – were hit by pellets from an air gun as they climbed the Col du Bannstein, near the end of stage 13 from Vittel to Colmar. Dean suffered a grazed index finger, while Freire had a pellet removed from his thigh. ·