Russian cyclist arrested on motorway

A Russian cyclist has been arrested and fined €22… for cycling on the motorway.

The woman was spotted on the A49 autoroute between Grenoble and Valence and gendarmes arrested her as she tried to pay a toll at the Chatuzange-le-Goubet péage.

The autoroute was very busy with holiday traffic and HGVs and the woman, in her 50s, was spotted on video-surveillance cameras as she cycled on the hard shoulder and slow lanes towards Valence.

She had covered at least 10km before being spotted and gendarmes were able to stop her at the péage. She explained that she was cycling from Russia to Spain.

After fining her €22, the gendarmes put her bicycle in the back of their car and drove her to the nearest cycle route, at Romans-sur-Isère.