‘Look where he’s stopped!’ – Terrifying near-miss as leader changes wheel in middle of road at Paris-Roubaix

Updated 17/04/2022 at 14:19 GMT

A huge pile-up was somehow avoided in the men’s race at Paris-Roubaix after Jens Reynders chose a bad place to fix a puncture. Only some brilliant bike handling from the chase group prevented a serious collision on the cobbles. A spree of crashes and a split in the peloton lit up Sunday’s race, with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert among those distanced in the early drama.

‘Oooaaaahhh!’ – Terrifying near-miss as Reynders changes wheel in middle of road

There was a terrifying near-miss at Paris-Roubaix after a rider inexplicably tried to change a wheel in the middle of a narrow stretch of cobbles.

Lone leader Jens Reynders (UCI ProTeam Sport Vlaanderen–Baloise) was struck with a puncture with 117km left of the French Monument, but pulled onto the racing line to get help from neutral service.

Behind, a bulging chase group were getting closer as everyone began to fear the worst.

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“Ohhh, that is not a good place to stop with the peloton coming down behind. Look where he’s stopped, right in the middle,” said Adam Blythe on Eurosport commentary.

“Worst possible place,” chimed in 2004 champion Magnus Backstedt.

To make the situation even more perilous, a rogue spectator had crept forward onto the dirt to get a closer look at Reynders’ wheel change – blocking the escape route for the fast-approaching pack.

“Keep your fingers crossed,” said Dan Lloyd as the group surged into view and only a small gap for them to squeeze through.

With the cobbles kicking up dust, it appeared the group could not even see the stricken Reynders. An accident looked inevitable.

But three last-gasp interventions – Reynders shifting closer to the side of the road, the fan moving back onto the grass and some nifty bike handling from the chasers – ensured that, somehow, a terrible crash was avoided.

“You’ve got to feel for the guy [Reynders], leading Paris-Roubaix, he would have been loving that,” added Lloyd.

“Then a front-wheel puncture, but he should have moved further over to the side of the road and chosen a different place.”