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Stag takes out competitor cycling during Dublin City Triathlon

Photographer captures moment animal crashes into rider - who went on to complete the race

A man competing in yesterday's Dublin City Triathlon in the Irish capital's Phoenix Park was left with a headache - and a sore shoulder - after a stag crashed into him during the bike leg of the event.

The dramatic incident was captured by photographer Erik Scaggs, whose picture accompanies this BBC report.

"As I was standing waiting for a group of cyclists to approach, I heard a rustling behind me and I turned to see a couple of stags ruining parallel to the road," he said.

"I had a feeling they might make their way across the cyclists' path, so I tracked them though my lens.

"I never envisaged that they would actually try and leap over the cyclists. It all happened so fast, It was a really heavy crash.

"It was a relief to see the competitor get back to his feet and continue."

Some 500 deer live in the park, and triathlete Shane O'Reilly from Blackrock - who landed head-first, but went on to finish the event in a time of 2 hours 25 minutes - said: "The helmet definitely saved me.

"Apart from that, my shoulder was a bit sore and I had a headache," he added.

> Video: Deer demolishes mountain biker on South Downs

If you're wondering about the picture we've used, that's from the Bicycle Taxidermy collection of artist and RCA graduate Regan Appleton, which we featured on road.cc back in 2012.

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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3 comments

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barbarus | 7 years ago
6 likes

Hind sight is a wonderful thing.

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pakennedy | 7 years ago
3 likes

See, you should always wear a helmet in case a stag kicks you in the head.

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StraelGuy | 7 years ago
1 like

Oh deer!

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