The Katusha team car pulled up alongside with just 250 metres to go, ruining what should have been a golden few moments for the stage winner.
The world of pro cycling is a competitive game, and not just on the bike but also in terms of securing and retaining sponsors.
A stage win in the Tour de France is gold dust to even the biggest teams and it's no surprise management of the squads want to maximise coverage for their sponsor at the big moment.
But when you really push your luck like the Katusha staff did today, is it going to far?
Russian rider Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) - who has previously served a two-year doping ban - was leading solo as he inched towards the summit of the brutal Finhaut-Emosson climb to win stage 17 of the Tour de France today.
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On the 184.5km stage from Berne involving two late climbs one after the other, Zakarin went clear in the early breakaway.
And in the closing stages with the escapes lead still at about 10 minutes on the yellow jersey group Zakarin rode away from the others to take victory.
Just 250 metres to go and the team car gets in front of the official race vehicles and TV moto to give orders to its riders after he's ridden some of the very best riders in the Tour off his wheel.
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He saw off stage 15 winner Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) and king of the mountains Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) to come home solo.
When those in his team car behind saw his jersey was zipped down all the way, they first told him in his ear piece to zip it up – we assume so the sponsor’s logo would be visible in the photos when he put his two hands in the air.
But when he tried and was unable to – because the road was still so steep and he was exhausted – the team car pulled up alongside him with just 250 metres to go and told him again to fix his jersey.
This time the rider took both hands off the bars, almost coming to a standstill and struggling to stay upright.
And when he reached the line, such was his state of exhaustion and the gradient even beyond the finish line that he was only able to get one hand up in triumph.
You can't help feeling that last couple of hundred metres when he should have been savouring what was happening was spoiled for him.
The 26-year-old's win will not be without controversy as he served a two-year doping ban after testing positive for an anabolic steroid aged 19 years.
The final kilometre
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