Loren Rowney, an Australien pro cyclist from the Velocio-SRAM, was just about to finish — first or second — at the Molecaten Drentse 8 race in the Netherlands when she crashed and broke her collarbone.
But she did not crash because of a mistake she made or because of an agressive opponent. No.
She crashed because of a spectator. She was so close to her goal, we cannot even imagine how angering it must me.
In this video, taken from the event’s livestream, you can see a spectator hitting Rowney’s handlebar, which made her wheel spin and sent her flying off her bike.
Now, in our eyes it looks pretty intentional, but still it’s hard to tell, incidents like this happened before.
However, what bothers us a lot, is that the man who made her fall claims it was unintentional and that he did not realize or felt he hit her bike. On that we call bullshit.
Having an heavy object (bike + riders should clock it at around 130 pounds) coming at you at probably over 50km/h and not feeling the impact on your hand is impossible.
The case is under investigation, so hopefully they get to the bottom of it.
We wish Loren Rowney a fast recovery!
