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Video: Premature exultation as Spanish rider Eloy Teruel celebrates California win a lap early

Plus, closer to home, amateur rider comes a cropper after giving photographer a "victory" salute...

Cycling can be a cruel sport – and here’s some video proof of it as Spanish rider Eloy Teruel raises his arms in celebration of what he thinks will be his first pro win. Moreover, it’s one achieved against star names including Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish at the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday. There was just one minor problem – there was still another lap of the closing circuit to go.

In the following video, the Eurosport commentary pair of Matt Stephens and Brian Smith clearly sympathise with Teruel’s plight as the race announcer yells “No, no, no!” at the Spaniard as he runs through his premature exultation routine.

Stephens observes that the 31-year-old Teruel, who rides for the US-based Jamis team, “clearly doesn’t understand English” – although “no” happens to be the same word in Spanish.

Afterwards, the rider, who rode for Spain in the Omnium at the London 2012 Olympic Games, took to Twitter to say: “I wanted to win, thank goodness no-one saw it, hahahahaha!”

He would eventually finish the stage in Pasadena, won by Cannondale’s Sagan, in 56th place.

Closer to home, the weekend also saw an amateur cyclist left red-faced at Box Hill when he spotted a photographer and decided to do an impromptu “victory” celebration – only to lose control of his bike and fall face-first into the grass verge.

IT manager Matt Adams, aged 36, was taking part in the Mitie London Revolution two-day ride. His misfortune was captured by photographer Phil O’Connor and has since been reported by The Daily Telegraph, which has also published a sequence of shots of his tumble.

He told the newspaper: “I saw the cameraman at the top so I thought I would do a little victory gesture, like they do in the Tour de France when they cross the finishing line.

“But we were still on an incline and the front wheel just buckled, and I went straight over the handlebars a couple of hundred metres from the top.”

He added that he believed he had “got away with it,” but organisers told him the pictures would be posted to Facebook.

“I laughed quite a lot, I guess nothing ever happens like that so I’ve got my five minutes of fame. I have viewed a few of the comments on Facebook and most have been complimentary so I am taking it in the spirit it is intended.

“I was making myself look like a fool. I have no idea what went through my head, just getting to the top of Box Hill still cycling. I saw the camera and thought I would get a nice photo, and unfortunately it failed,” he said.

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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Timsen | 9 years ago
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Nice one Matt.....

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700c | 9 years ago
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Shame this is the only coverage I've seen of the tour of California on here.

Bradley Wiggins won, by the way.

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Him Up North | 9 years ago
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Presumably they don't ring a bell to signify one lap to go, in which case Teruel wins the No Bell Prize.  4

(and boo sucks to Eurosport for having the vid taken down)

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Some Fella | 9 years ago
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Just out of interest - to anyones knowledge, has anyone crossed the line thinking they had another lap to go but did in fact win the race blissfully unaware?

Not a quiz - dont ring in - its just for fun.

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Leviathan replied to Some Fella | 9 years ago
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Some Fella wrote:

Just out of interest - to anyones knowledge, has anyone crossed the line thinking they had another lap to go but did in fact win the race blissfully unaware?

Not a quiz - dont ring in - its just for fun.

I am blissfully unaware that I am a winner all the time.

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massspike | 9 years ago
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Ryder Hesjedal did the same thing in last years race in Montreal so even the top riders can have trouble counting to 3

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Markcw | 9 years ago
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At least he didn't ditch it in a hedge afterwards! http://twitter.com/100Climbs/status/468417105856323586/photo/1

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themartincox | 9 years ago
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It is a shame indeed, but some great exposure for his sponsors!

would have loved to see his face the moment he realised it wasn't the win....

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