The Vuelta a Extremadura got—it must be said—extreme last week as a spectator caused a crash in the sprint finish by sticking her arm out into the course in order to film the race.
Luckily, the rider wasn't injured, but the incident is making headlines as a plea to fans to show some common sense at these races, and for organizers to create more separation between riders and fans, particularly for critical race moments like a finishing stretch.
The rider who took the hit from the spectator before causing a chain reaction of crashes behind him was sitting around third or fourth wheel when he was hit.
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You can see the crash play out on the Vuelta a Extremadura’s Twitter feed here:
"We want to make a call to the responsibility of the public so that accidents like the one experienced at the end of today's stage are not repeated," the organizers Tweeted. "It is important to keep your distance and not invade the road at the pace of the race."
Seems obvious, right?
Apparently not, since every year, we seem to be covering more and more incidents like this one. (Remember “Allez Opi Omi’?) Seriously, fans need to start acting like they're on a roller coaster at an amusement park, and keep hands/arms/legs/everything off the course at all times.
Thankfully, the rider was not badly injured in the crash, and it appeared that the woman who had caused the crash was uninjured as well (though she also got knocked down).
The rider and several other riders who were lined up behind him did end up on the ground with minor injuries, and obviously lost their chance to contend the finishing sprint.
Owen Lightfoot, a rider on Maglia Tecnosylva Bembibre Cycling Team, also shared the footage along with a plea for spectators to take care on course. He wrote:
"Went for the bunch sprint today, was in near perfect position when the rider ahead of me was taken out by a spectator filming with a phone causing me to come down. Having spectators is great and makes the racing much more enjoyable, the sport wouldn’t be what it is without them. But I don’t know why people feel the need to film and put there phone out in front of riders going at 60km/h when the race is already been filmed and televised already, endangering riders and themselves. We put in a lot of hours and sacrifice a lot for an opportunity to get results, just to be taken out this way is very upsetting. I am very lucky to only have some road rash as it could of been much worse."
There are still two stages to go in the Vuelta, so hopefully fans exert a bit more caution on course for the rest of the race. We also hope to see some action taken by race organizers and the UCI to educate fans and protect the riders.
Molly writes about cycling, nutrition and training, with an emphasis on women in sport. Her new middle-grade series, Shred Girls, debuts with Rodale Kids/Random House in 2019 with "Lindsay's Joyride." Her other books include "Mud, Snow and Cyclocross," "Saddle, Sore" and "Fuel Your Ride." Her work has been published in magazines like Bicycling, Outside and Nylon. She co-hosts The Consummate Athlete Podcast.
