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Video: Fan's jacket DID cause Peter Sagan's crash at Tour of FlandersPeter Sagan Tour of Flanders 2017 fan's jacket (Seal Jobs Twitter video still).PNG

Video: Fan's jacket DID cause Peter Sagan's crash at Tour of Flanders

And to add insult to injury, Nike Terpstra rode over the world champion's sunglasses, destroying them...
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, Apr 03, 2017 15:05
8

Ever since world champion Peter Sagan crashed out of contention at the Tour of Flanders yesterday, social media has been abuzz with the question of whether a fan’s jacket may have been responsible – and now, a video from the other side of the road shows that it was.

The Bora Hansgrohe rider, who won the race 12 months ago, was leading Greg van Avermaet of BMC Racing and AG2R-La Mondiale’s Oliver Naesen on the Oude Kwaremont climb when the crash happened.

> Video: When Peter Sagan's hopes of retaining Tour of Flanders title

The trio were in pursuit of Philippe Gilbert of Quick Step Floors, who had launched a solo attack with 55 kilometres remaining. He won the race, but there has been a lot of speculation that had it not been for the crash, he would have been caught.

The exact cause of the crash had been unclear, but footage shot by a spectator on the climb now shows exactly what happened – and has been retweeted by Sagan himself.

It clearly shows the jacket catching on his arm or jacket, enough to pull his front wheel into the foot of a barrier and crash, with van Avermaet and Naesen – whose handlebar pulled the garment clean off the barrier it was draped over – coming down too.

To add insult to injury for Sagan, in the aftermath of his chute, his sunglasses were destroyed as Nike Terpstra of Quick Step Floors ride over them – and if you’ve ever had a favourite pair of shades broken, you’ll know exactly how he feels in the second picture here.

Peter Sagan
Tour of Flanders 2017
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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fuzzywuzzy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Have to agree, as much as I like Sagan, he was putting himself at risk riding that close. Given idiots trying to take selfies, people waving flags like a matador in front of you and people with ad signs waving them about even if it hadn't been a foolishly placed jacket it could have been something else.

That said I can see in a cobbled race it's (usually) worth the pros taking the risk of gutter riding but I'm always surprised in other races (especially TTs) where they're riding head down right against the barrier. Unless there's a big cross-wind I can't believe it's worth the risk but then I again I guess they know more about the risk/reward balance than me.

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izza | 7 years ago
0 likes

I have more sympathy with Mrs. Sagan.

No matter who was to blame, his wedding tackle was removed from the cushioned saddle and moulded around his stem in less than a second.

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paulrattew | 7 years ago
13 likes

I have limited sympathy for Sagan here. He is choosing to ride in the gutter right up by the barrier to avoid riding the cobbles. It's a horrible way to be taken out of contention, but he's choosing to try and avoid part of the course, putting himself dangerously close to the barriers and fans. Of course no roadside fan should leave things dangling over the barriers, but all the riders know that being that close to the barrier is a risk

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STiG911 replied to paulrattew | 7 years ago
3 likes
paulrattew wrote:

I have limited sympathy for Sagan here. He is choosing to ride in the gutter right up by the barrier to avoid riding the cobbles. It's a horrible way to be taken out of contention, but he's choosing to try and avoid part of the course, putting himself dangerously close to the barriers and fans. Of course no roadside fan should leave things dangling over the barriers, but all the riders know that being that close to the barrier is a risk

Too right. You're a pro riding in a classic in which large sections have cobbles- suck it up, it's what you're paid for!

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LaVieEnVelo replied to paulrattew | 7 years ago
3 likes
paulrattew wrote:

I have limited sympathy for Sagan here. He is choosing to ride in the gutter right up by the barrier to avoid riding the cobbles. It's a horrible way to be taken out of contention, but he's choosing to try and avoid part of the course, putting himself dangerously close to the barriers and fans. Of course no roadside fan should leave things dangling over the barriers, but all the riders know that being that close to the barrier is a risk

I'm with paulrattew on this. I was there on the Kwaremont and it was warm and windless so the coat wasn't blowing around, it was just lain over the barrier. It could have been anything if you're that close. All racers must know that it's a toss-up between the safety of the middle of the pavé or the smoother but treacherous gutter.  Sagan, to his credit, admitted that he was at fault. It was a shame because if he and GVA had stayed upright it might have been a cracking end to a cracking race (although seeing the Belgian champ win from inside a Flandrian pub was great).

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kitkat replied to LaVieEnVelo | 7 years ago
2 likes
LaVieEnVelo wrote:

seeing the Belgian champ win from inside a Flandrian pub was great

That is a classy rider, was it a Zwift event? 3

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peted76 | 7 years ago
1 like

Terpstra !! .... BIG LOLZ 1

 

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Jamminatrix | 7 years ago
2 likes

Watch the slow motion video and look at Oliver Naesen... The blue jacket also takes out Naeson, much worse....  It wasn't Sagan who took Naesen out, it was the same jacket.

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