'It's the motorbike!' – Scary moment as race official crashes into packed peloton at Giro d'Italia

Updated 10/05/2022 at 13:35 GMT

Those at the back of the peloton on Stage 4 at the Giro d’Italia were caught up in a crash when a motorbike deviated into their path – but it could have been a lot more serious. Race leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) was towards the front of the main group and was unaffected, but around 30 riders either hit the deck or were slowed by the incident with 160km left of the Sicilian stage.

‘Not what you want’ – Motorbike crashes, then falls into packed peloton

Riders were fortunate to escape serious injury after a motorbike crashed into the peloton on Stage 4 at the Giro d’Italia.

As the main group navigated a twisting road with 160km remaining on the first Sicilian stage, the bike was upended by a small piece of road furniture – sending it careering into the back of the main group.

Roger Kluge (Lotto Soudal) and Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani–CSF–Faizane) were among the riders to hit the deck but, fortunately, all appeared to emerge largely unscathed.

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“And it’s the motorbike who’s crashed. Not what you want,” said Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary.

“Of course you’ve got the weight of that motorbike as well and they’re checking Roger Kluge for that reason. I think he was very close to all that weight.”

Cycling is no stranger to incidents involving motorbikes.

In 2020, Julian Alaphilippe was sent somersaulting into the air after hitting one at the Tour of Flanders, while Chris Froome opted to run up Mont Ventoux at the 2016 Tour de France after crashing when a TV motorbike braked suddenly to avoid a fan.

Watch the moment Julian Alaphilippe crashed into motorbike at Tour of Flanders

And it's not just motorbikes that are guilty of causing grief... remember last year's Giro, when Pieter Serry was hit from behind by a team car?

Quite inexplicably, Serry was struck from behind as a clearly oblivious Team BikeExchange soigneur was leaning out and handing something over to the race organiser's vehicle.

Serry was understandably left absolutely livid as a result of the reckless and totally unnecessary incident.