Davide Ballerini appears to have lost the Italian national title after pulling "mini wheelies" in the sprint for the gold medal.
The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider was among a small group sprinting for the medals at the end of the 253.8km contest into Cittadella.
The 24-year-old hit the front just before the line, passing Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-McLaren), but with Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling) finishing very strongly on Ballerini's left.
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The gold medal looked like a two-horse race; Ballerini leading but Nizzolo closing on him, when Ballerini performed what can only be described as 'mini wheelies'.
He pulled his front wheel off the front and bounced it back into the road - not once, but twice - losing momentum and seeing Nizzolo passing him for victory by a matter of inches.
It's unclear what Ballerini was doing - whether he thought he had already cross the line or was bouncing his front wheel off the road in excitement because he thought he had the race won.
Either way, it cost him dearly and he had to settle for silver on the day after one of the strangest finishes you will see in a bike race. The slow motion in the video below shows what happened.
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