Police fire at car before TDF arrival
French police opened fire on a car which drove through barriers set up for the final stage of the Tour de France in central Paris on Sunday, but said it appeared to be a minor incident.
The driver escaped after refusing to obey police near the Place de la Concorde at around 8:00am local time, Paris police said.
Authorities are still searching for the car and driver involved in the incident.
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“This is a minor incident. It wasn’t aimed at the Tour de France, it’s not terrorism, it’s just a simple refusal to comply as there are many every day,” a police official said.
Officials said police shot at the car in an attempt to stop it after it sped away from a nearby checkpoint as officers tried to redirect traffic away from roads closed for the end of the epic race.
No one is believed to have been hit, and police stressed there had been no exchange of fire.
Security in the French capital has been heightened for months following jihadist attacks which claimed 17 lives that began with the massacre at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to gather in the Place de la Concorde and along Champs Elysees for the final stage of the Tour de France later in the day.
Briton Chris Froome will ride into Paris wearing the yellow jersey with very little preventing him winning a second crown.