Fernando Gaviria by the roadside in Doha and out of the race. Luke Durbridge and Luka Mezgec came down very hard in the same horrible incident.
The top riders in the world train hard and on race day try to prepare for all eventualities; from the weather to carefully planning their tactics.
But sometimes the very basics can go wrong and when they do the results can be devastating.
And such was the case for Australian Luke Durbridge, Slovenia Luka Mezgec and Colombian Fernando Gaviria at the World Championships yesterday.
The three riders were in a chase group just behind the small pack of main favourites with 164km remaining in the 257.5km contest in Doha.
The hammer was really on as the key splits were taking place.
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@luke_durbridge1 shit happens brother.. we put ourselves down hard ??
— Luka Mezgec (@lukamezgec) October 16, 2016
And with the breeze blowing pretty hard and coming from the right on the open desert road the riders were spread across the road and lined out at the back of the group.
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Durbridge’s chain came off and he lost speed rapidly.
He swung over to his left to keep out of the way, but with the back of the group on that left side of the road, he was hit hard from behind by both Gaviria and Mezgec.
The Colombian track world champion didn’t fall off but hurt his arm and was forced to a halt, abandoning the race on the spot.
He effectively shoulder-barged Durbridge as the Australian dropped suddenly back into his path.
Mezgec smashed into Durbridge and both riders hit the deck very hard; incredible what a simple slipped chain can do when riders are under pressure.
A very nasty one indeed!
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