A bike race in China finished in chaos last week as two groups of riders found themselves heading towards the finish line from opposite directions, causing a huge head-on crash which led to 17 of them being taken to hospital.
The crash happened at the end of the fourth stage of the Colorful Yunnan Gryffindor International Cycling Race, now in its second year.
This Chinese video news report on the incident shows the crash and its aftermath from a number of angles. What seems to have happened is that the leading group, possibly through an error by marshals or the driver of the lead vehicle, deviated from the race route shortly before the finish line, reports China.org.cn.
They then came round a bend to approach the finish arch from the wrong direction – just as the second group was sprinting for the line, and with disastrous consequences.
Organisers have come under criticism on social media but have denied being at fault, adding that they will "co-operate with relevant bodies and tried their best in follow-up work."
More super dramatic cycling videos
Brazilian rider drafts lorry at 124Kmh
Mark Cavendish falls in massive puddle
(okay, maybe that last one is more comedy than drama).
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.