Jonas Vingegaard and Aleksandr Vlasov crash in slow motion, do a Chris Froome and finish race on foot
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Updated 08/04/2022 at 16:19 GMT
The fifth stage of Itzulia Basque Country on Friday afternoon was full of accident and incident, as Lucas Hamilton took a header over a barrier and into a ravine, and Jonas Vingegaard and Aleksandr Vlasov clashed at a bizarrely slow pace at the end, finishing the race by running up the last few metres of the stage.
Rodriguez wins stage at Itzulia Basque Country, Vingegaard and Vlasov crash in slow motion
There was a chaotic end to the Itzulia Basque Country stage 5 on Friday afternoon, as both Jonas Vingegaard and Aleksandr Vlasov came together almost in slow motion at the death.
It had already been a dramatic stage in Spain. Earlier in the race Lucas Hamilton had glided into a crash barrier that was erected to prevent anyone falling into the adjacent ravine, but unfortunately for the Australian Team BikeExchange rider, it did not stop him tumbling over along with his bike.
More luckily the 26-year-old was able to stop his fall just before the more dramatic drop, though the same could not be said for his bike.
As well as that, it had been a tough day for Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), with the Slovenian saying before the day’s racing that he felt unwell, and he was pictured in various states of discomfort throughout the stage on Friday. Perhaps linked to his illness was his subdued performance, leaving him in eighth in the General Classification, and out of the top 10 on the day.
But there was more to come in the closing stages, when Denmark’s Vingegaard and Russian cyclist Vlasov were fighting up the hill with the 16% gradient with the last of the race to come.
However, the pair touched and fell to the ground at the slowest of paces. Happily they were both able to finish the race apparently unscathed, but the angle of the climb left them unable to power themselves on their bikes.
Instead they had to race their bikes up to the finish while jogging, and once their race was completed they decided to argue over who had been at fault for the accident. Vlasov and Vingegaard took seventh and eighth respectively.
The scenes were somewhat reminiscent of Chris Froome's famous jog up Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France in 2016.
With Roglic suffering, it was left to Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) to take the lead in the GC - a mere two seconds ahead of Daniel Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers).
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