The end of a tough pro race ends in this crash after a spectator slapped the rider’s handlebars - see video below - by reaching over the crowd control barrier.
This troubling video footage shows a spectator reach over crowd control barriers in a sprint finish and slap a rider's handlebars resulting in a serious crash. But was it deliberate?
The footage was recorded at the finish of the Drentse 8 van Wetsterveld in Holland this afternoon, Thursday.
The rider sent crashing to the ground is Loren Rowney of the Velocio-Sram team.
Rowney was in the breakaway sprinting for the win, with the dash to the line eventually won by former world road champion Giorgia Bronzini.
In this still from the video below, the spectator's arm can be seen stretched out at the moment of impact.
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Rowney can be seen sprinting near the crowd control barriers before an arm comes over into the road.
It makes contact with her handlebars and sends her flying to the ground as she’s going flat out.
Rowney was helped to her feet by a moto driver who reached the finishing straight just after the crash.
But in some footage she is clearly looking very dazed and shocked by the spill, although she is able to get to her feet and prop herself up by the side of the road after 138km in the saddle.
It’s hard to say if it was deliberate or not, but it looks like a worrying development.
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