( CNN ) -- The death of a spectator overshadowed an intriguing 14th stage of the Tour de France which saw Rinaldo Nocentini desperately cling on to the leader 's yellow jersey in cycling 's premier event . George Hincapie , front , upstaged his compatriot and former teammate Lance Armstrong to take second place overall . A woman died after being hit by a police motorcycle on Saturday afternoon in Wittelsheim , a village in Alsace in northeastern France which is 40 kilometers from the start of the race 's leg from Colmar to Besancon . French police told CNN that two other people were injured and taken to hospital . The Tour released a statement on its official Web site saying the 61-year-old woman was hit when she crossed the road after a group of cyclists passed , then the motorcycle slid and injured two other spectators . A 36-year-old is in hospital with neck pain , and a 61-year-old has a broken leg . The incident marred an eventful day 's racing in which George Hincapie leapt up into second place overall , five seconds behind Nocentini , following a 12-man breakaway . The American finished eighth in a group of eight who were all 16 seconds behind stage winner Serguei Ivanov of Russia , and had been ahead of Nocentini until the 143-strong peloton made up time at the end . The Columbia team rider 's rise up the standings saw his compatriot and former teammate , seven-time champion Lance Armstrong , drop to fourth place overall . Armstrong was still eight seconds off the lead after finishing 49th , with Astana teammate Alberto Contador six seconds adrift in third following his classification of 37th . Nocentini was relieved to retain first place and was grateful to his AG2R teammates , with Nicolas Roche finishing second after powering past Hayden Roche in the final few hundred meters as Ivanov claimed his second stage victory eight years after his first . `` It was a very difficult day today because we 're getting tired from all the effort in the last week , '' the Italian , who finished 45th , told the race 's official Web site . `` We had a rider up front so we did n't have to ride but because Hincapie was in the move there was a big risk of losing the yellow jersey . `` Eventually , with 50 kilometers to go , our directeur sportif Vincent Lavenu said , 'Okay , let 's go ! Let 's catch the guys . ' Okay this was n't possible but we had to limit our losses and keep the jersey . `` I told the guys , 'Listen , I do n't mind . If you want to go for it and defend the jersey , that 's great . But if you do n't want to , that 's okay . You 've already worked so hard over the last few days so it does n't really matter . ' `` Eventually I 've kept the lead by just five seconds , so I 'm really pleased with how this Tour has gone for me so far . And I 'm really grateful for the commitment from my team . '' Thor Hushovd extended his lead in the green jersey sprint category as he finished at the head of the peloton in 13th place , while nearest rival Mark Cavendish finished right at the back of it in 154th after the two tussled in the closing stages . The riders will now head back into the mountains through the Swiss Alps for the 207.5km 15th stage from Pontarlier to Verbier , with the climbers expected to come to the fore again just a week ahead of the finish in Paris .
A woman dies after being hit by a police motorcycle during the 14th stage . Police and two other riders were injured and taken to hospital on Saturday . Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy takes leader 's yellow jersey after surviving big scare . George Hincapie moves up to second place , Lance Armstrong drops to fourth .