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Video: Huge crash at Giro d'Italia caused by "dickhead" fixie rider who joined peloton

Trek Factory Racing rider Eugenio Alafaci slams spectator whose intervention brought number of riders down

A big crash towards the end of yesterday’s Stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia in Genoa was caused by a man on a bike who rode onto the course of the race, according to Trek Factory Racing rider Eugenio Alafaci.

In a post on Facebook following the stage, Alafaci said: "If I get hold of the dickhead that had the bright idea of jumping into the peloton on a fixie with 10km to go, making us crash, I swear he’d be in for it.”

Although the incident itself wasn’t caught on TV cameras, it was filmed by spectator Francesco Cordua, who was watching the race from across the road.

At around 10 seconds in, you can see the cyclist – who does not appear to have been identified – ride off the seafront promenade and onto the road, emerging from behind a hedge. 

(Warning - the video has a rather sweary voiceover).

The crash split the peloton, and among those left behind was AG2R’s Domenico Pozzovivo, who lost more than a minute to his rivals for the overall.

Among the riders brought down was IAM’s Heinrich Haussler, who had been involved in a separate crash minutes beforehand, and Alafaci’s team mate, Marco Coledan, who lost a lot of skin in the incident.

Both he and Alafaci confirmed what had happened to media after the stage.

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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40 comments

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Docroddy | 8 years ago
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"Just stay in the pub and eat your fucking meat pie". So much Aussie, such good advice!

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Kamikaze | 9 years ago
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I thought Roadies were the Dickheads???? am I wrong?

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Barrybiker replied to Kamikaze | 9 years ago
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Yes!

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coach | 9 years ago
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I also read from a rider in the peloton that it was a beach cruiser not a fixie. Haters.

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AndyRaff | 9 years ago
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Cadute!

Porca miseria!!!!

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allgearnoidea | 9 years ago
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I would argue that road.cc's title for the post does stereotype things before you see any footage though!

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velo-nh | 9 years ago
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Where are the Shimano service vehicles when you need them?

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mrfree | 9 years ago
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He's a twat regardless of whether he was on a fixed wheel or not. Stop using this as an excuse to stereotype and treat him as an individual.

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harrybav | 9 years ago
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He was quite graceful, lifting the cordon on the move and bumping down the kerb cycling one-handed. Went a bit wrong after that.

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kiat | 9 years ago
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The fool swerves from behind the hedge towards the road, ducks under the "don't cross this tape!" tape, crosses the vehicle layby and tries to insert himself into the peleton. Freaking idiot. He had time to avoid making the accident, as he crossed the layby at an angle, so clearly intentional.

My guess is he thought he was going fast enough to get on the front and to set tempo, but drastically over-estimated his non-existent racing capabilities, so by the time he got there, surprise surprise, the pros were way ahead of where he expected them. Suitable choice of words from Alafaci!

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Mungecrundle | 9 years ago
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Yes yes, all well and good, but was he wearing a helmet?

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giff77 | 9 years ago
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Chad Haga in his journal on the Giro seems to indicate that the bloke was on a beach cruiser which makes sense with what Team Extreme says about ridiculous handlebars. I've not looked at cycling news' version but in the road.cc clip the bloke seems to do a shoulder check before joining the peleton causing mayhem and then clearing off. And deco freewheeling.

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leeleejaspero | 9 years ago
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This is why the giro needs to be held in Yorkshire next time!!

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Barrybiker replied to leeleejaspero | 9 years ago
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Yup too true,I,m with you on that!

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d_jp | 9 years ago
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They have the video in HD on cyclingnews (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-crash-footage-of-the-cyclist-who-r...) & it's much clearer. The guy lifts the tape which has been put out as the barrier along the roadside at this point and goes into the road just as the peloton arrive. He appears to pretty much go shoulder to shoulder (I guess from the comments it is with a Trek rider!) causing them to crash and leading to the ensuing aftermath... if you look carefully you can see him go back under the tape a little further along and then at about 25 seconds he appears (unscathed unlike many of the riders due to his utter stupidity!) cycling away from the scene.

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TeamExtreme replied to d_jp | 9 years ago
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d_jp wrote:

They have the video in HD on cyclingnews (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-crash-footage-of-the-cyclist-who-r...) & it's much clearer. The guy lifts the tape which has been put out as the barrier along the roadside at this point and goes into the road just as the peloton arrive. He appears to pretty much go shoulder to shoulder (I guess from the comments it is with a Trek rider!) causing them to crash and leading to the ensuing aftermath... if you look carefully you can see him go back under the tape a little further along and then at about 25 seconds he appears (unscathed unlike many of the riders due to his utter stupidity!) cycling away from the scene.

I was just about to post exactly the same thing, for some reason road.cc have linked to a copied version of the video, but the original as linked to on Cycling News is at 720p resolution and shows the culprit quite clearly.

The guy is just a complete clown, swerves into the road at full pelt with complete disregard for the peloton and once he's caused complete carnage he just hops back on the pavement and rides away. As you say, you get a pretty good mugshot as he's riding behind the old lady at 25 secs, but not really good enough for anyone to ID him. The huge belly, bald head and ridiculous handlebars should be a clue, but I don't think the Italians believe in such vigilante justice as we do!

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marche | 9 years ago
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Riding a fixie at the Giro is like using a monoski at Kitzbühl's downhill race!

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WashoutWheeler | 9 years ago
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I do hope someone in the peloton managed to give the bellend a proper good dig!

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vonhelmet | 9 years ago
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What a scrote.

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allgearnoidea | 9 years ago
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another reason to hate the fixie hipsters for me

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farrell replied to allgearnoidea | 9 years ago
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Simmo72 wrote:

See, this is what happens when you let hipsters run free. A sensible chap on a bike with gears and it wouldn't have happened. Ban fixed wheels, tapered skinny fit jeans, those silly ear lobe stretching ear rings, overtly groomed beards and deck shoes and we can prevent this type of stupidity occurring again.

allgearnoidea wrote:

another reason to hate the fixie hipsters for me

It looks suspiciously like the rider freewheeled off the pavement.

So....

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velobetty replied to farrell | 9 years ago
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farrell wrote:

It looks suspiciously like the rider freewheeled off the pavement.

I was thinking the same...but we shouldn't let reality get in the way...

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ofathens replied to allgearnoidea | 9 years ago
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Definitely not on fixed gear but freewheel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoNFSiCq9Lo

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Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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See, this is what happens when you let hipsters run free. A sensible chap on a bike with gears and it wouldn't have happened. Ban fixed wheels, tapered skinny fit jeans, those silly ear lobe stretching ear rings, overtly groomed beards and deck shoes and we can prevent this type of stupidity occurring again.

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Colin Peyresourde replied to Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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Simmo72 wrote:

See, this is what happens when you let hipsters run free. A sensible chap on a bike with gears and it wouldn't have happened. Ban fixed wheels, tapered skinny fit jeans, those silly ear lobe stretching ear rings, overtly groomed beards and deck shoes and we can prevent this type of stupidity occurring again.

Glad you can identify him. I would not have got all that from the information in that video.

I've heard others talking about a black Muslim man chanting the Koran, so am glad you know who is to blame. We wouldn't want to jump to conclusions just because of the size of a man's beard now would we.....

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fukawitribe replied to Colin Peyresourde | 9 years ago
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Colin Peyresourde wrote:
Simmo72 wrote:

See, this is what happens when you let hipsters run free. A sensible chap on a bike with gears and it wouldn't have happened. Ban fixed wheels, tapered skinny fit jeans, those silly ear lobe stretching ear rings, overtly groomed beards and deck shoes and we can prevent this type of stupidity occurring again.

Glad you can identify him. I would not have got all that from the information in that video.

I've heard others talking about a black Muslim man chanting the Koran, so am glad you know who is to blame. We wouldn't want to jump to conclusions just because of the size of a man's beard now would we.....

I was reading that in humour tags myself, YMMV clearly...

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zanf replied to Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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Simmo72 wrote:

See, this is what happens when you let hipsters run free. A sensible chap on a bike with gears and it wouldn't have happened. Ban fixed wheels, tapered skinny fit jeans, those silly ear lobe stretching ear rings, overtly groomed beards and deck shoes and we can prevent this type of stupidity occurring again.

allgearnoidea wrote:

another reason to hate the fixie hipsters for me

Leodis wrote:

Bloody Hipsters

Actually, if you look at this video that is slowed and zoomed, you can see that he freewheels up to when he lifts the cordon

https://youtu.be/NnVuRwjfaG8

Confirmation bias much?

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ConcordeCX replied to zanf | 9 years ago
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zanf wrote:
Simmo72 wrote:

See, this is what happens when you let hipsters run free. A sensible chap on a bike with gears and it wouldn't have happened. Ban fixed wheels, tapered skinny fit jeans, those silly ear lobe stretching ear rings, overtly groomed beards and deck shoes and we can prevent this type of stupidity occurring again.

allgearnoidea wrote:

another reason to hate the fixie hipsters for me

Leodis wrote:

Bloody Hipsters

Actually, if you look at this video that is slowed and zoomed, you can see that he freewheels up to when he lifts the cordon

https://youtu.be/NnVuRwjfaG8

Confirmation bias much?

I think it's Lance

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allgearnoidea replied to zanf | 9 years ago
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zanf wrote:
Simmo72 wrote:

See, this is what happens when you let hipsters run free. A sensible chap on a bike with gears and it wouldn't have happened. Ban fixed wheels, tapered skinny fit jeans, those silly ear lobe stretching ear rings, overtly groomed beards and deck shoes and we can prevent this type of stupidity occurring again.

allgearnoidea wrote:

another reason to hate the fixie hipsters for me

Leodis wrote:

Bloody Hipsters

Actually, if you look at this video that is slowed and zoomed, you can see that he freewheels up to when he lifts the cordon

https://youtu.be/NnVuRwjfaG8

Confirmation bias much?

that video clears things up a bit more - he obviously realised what the cordon was for at the last minute as he tries to swerve back out of the way of the impeding peleton...

I still hate hipsters and their fixies!  4

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zanf replied to allgearnoidea | 9 years ago
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allgearnoidea wrote:

I still hate hipsters and their fixies!  4

I, and several people at my club ride fixed gear as commuter bikes, and all of us are the antithesis of any definition I have heard of 'hipsters'.

The intellectual laziness surrounding the 'hipster' label, and hatred towards it, is perturbing. It is banded around so much now that when anyone says "I hate hipsters blah blah blah", they just sound like a twat, lashing out at, what essentially is anyone under the age of 40.

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