Sam Bennett's team mate Jan Barta in a bad way at the end of stage 2 of the Tour of Alberta. The finish line came unstuck and took sprinting riders to the ground hard.
Much of the debate in recent months about the apparent increase in crashes at pro bike races has centred mainly on motorbikes ferrying around those working with the media or race organisations.
However, when a number of riders came down hard just after the finish of stage 2 of the Tour of Alberta on Thursday, the moto drivers could not be blamed.
Instead, the large white finish line that was stuck onto the road came unstuck in the wet weather as the riders' wheels whipped over it.
It then jammed into the front wheels and forks of some of the riders, causing them to crash to the ground at high speed at the end of a tough day in awful conditions.
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The white finish line comes unstuck in the wet as the riders cross it. To the right of shot it can been seen tangled in one rider's bike before he falls. On the left, another rider mostly obscured by the group has fallen and more are just about to follow. However, it could have been much worse.
Thankfully the number of fallers was small and all seemed to be up and moving about at the time of writing.
However, finish line safety is set to become a talking point now, with Lizzie Armitstead already having come down hard on a finishing straight packed with media at the Aviva Women’s Tour in Aldeburgh in the UK in June.
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The finish line that blew up off the road in Alberta is typical of the lines put down at many UCI races.
They are thick white panels of well over a foot in width, with the finish line in black in the middle.
The black line on white background makes it easier to read the photo finish shots very quickly in the event there is little or nothing between the riders as they finish.
Australian Michael Matthews of Orica-GreenEDGE won stage 2 in a bunch sprint and took over the race lead.
Ireland's Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 was 5th. You can read our report by following this link.
Finish line comes unstuck
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