One cyclist at the Grand Prix of Denain was given plenty of room by his competitors after crashing into a pile of manure.
The historic French race saw a number of bizarre incidents in the one-day event, but one stunk more than any other.
Riders were going all-out on the cobblestone streets of northern France, but Belgian Stan Dewulf paid a terrible price for misjudging a corner when he went straight on into a pile of cow muck.
Cameras managed to pick up the rather amusing moment, with one Eurosport commentator saying: “Maybe a soft landing.”
As they both struggled to contain their laughter, the other remarked: “That is going to be smelly, that is going to be one smelly crash there from the rider going straight into a mountain of manure.”
Dewulf managed to pick himself up and keep going, with riders likely keeping their distance as he managed to end up 53rd out of 133 competitors to start the race.
Thankfully the AG2R Citroen Team gear features brown shorts, with Dewulf able to partially cover up his embarrassment, as a number of leading Dutch outlets commented ‘s*** happens’.
Dewulf later posted on Instagram saying: “You could say that I had a s***** race today. Literally.”
He wasn’t the only one to have a rough time, though, with Hugo Hofstetter seeing the left side of his handlebar snap off, ruining any chance of a decent result.
After having his gear replaced, astonishingly the right side then snapped off of the new handlebar, with the Frenchman fuming at his equipment in a terrible advertisement for the Bianchi manufacturers of his bike.
That wasn’t it for the drama though, when Tim van Dijke saw his chances of victory slip away heading to the finish line as his shoe cleat slipped out of the pedal for the final sprint.
With the Dutchman out of contention, Juan Sebastian Molano from Colombia made it to the line first in one of the most hectic road races of the year.
There’s some competition for that honour in 2023 though, with the Strade Bianche recently interrupted by a stampeding horse, while the Star of Besseges saw one rider left hanging from a bridge.
