France’s national rail company SNCF filed a lawsuit yesterday after cyclists in a prominent race crossed train tracks just seconds before a high-speed train whizzed past.

SNCF announced the action in a statement, saying the incident during the Paris-Roubaix race on Sunday in northern France was “irresponsible” and the cyclists could have been hit by the TGV train.

After some of the riders crossed the tracks 162km into the race, a level crossing barrier went down, nearly hitting one rider and forcing other cyclists to wait for the train to pass.

The lawsuit does not name anyone but leaves it up to investigators to determine how it happened and who was responsible.

SNCF says it spends €30 million a year (£21.6m) to try to reduce accidents at level crossings.

“Millions of television viewers saw live this extremely serious and irresponsible action which could have been tragic,” said SNCF.

“A few seconds later, a TGV ran on this line and could have hit the peloton.”

Race rules state that it is “strictly forbidden” for any racer to cross when barriers are down and that riders that cross would be eliminated immediately.

But race organisers said they would not punish the riders.

“It wasn’t possible for the leading riders to stop sufficiently safely,” said official Guy Dobbelaere.

“The peloton was 10 metres away when the barrier closed.”