The speeding peloton endured a very scary moment on the opening stage of Vuelta a San Juan Internacional (2.Pro) in Argentina on Sunday when it was forced to split between a median in the centre of the road, with spectators standing on it.
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With just over 1km to go, the speed was ramped right up for the approaching sprint finish; world champion Remco Evenpoel on the front trying to lead-out his Soudal-QuickStep team mate Fabio Jakbosen.
However, Evenepoel as approached the media - where the riders should have stayed to the right - he had no time to switch and brought a section of the field, including Jakobsen, slightly off course to the left. The riders who stayed right, including stage winner Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe), gained an advantage. They passed under the 1km to go banner as the others on the opposite side of the road stalled for a moment and lost about 20 positions.
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While it must have been a nervous time in the bunch for the riders to look up and see spectators standing in the centre of the road in front of them, God knows how the spectators on the median felt, one of whom was in a wheelchair.
Luckily, no crash occurred and while the riders who went on the wrong side of the road lost positions, it merely took Jakobsen out of the sprint rather than leading to any broken bones or loss of skin.
That dangerous moment saw the momentum pass from Soudal-QuickStep to Bora-hansgrohe as Danny van Poppel soon hit the front and delivered Sam Bennett close to the line. The Irishman kicked for home in the final 200 metres to take his first win of the season at the first time of asking.
