Video: Mayhem as Paralympic C4-5 road race ends in finish-line crash

A finish-line crash which ultimately disqualified the leaders of yesterday's Paralympic C4-5 men's road race acrimoniously ended a dramatic and tragic day's racing in Rio.

Ukranian cyclist Yehor Dementyev and Australian Alistair Donohoe were jostling for position in the sprint for Paralympic gold when Donohoe lost control of his bike sending  both himself and Dementyev sprawling.

The Ukranian Dementyev came off worse and remained motionless, an arms reach from the finish line,  after tumbling to the ground, while Donohoe managed to scramble to his feet and cross the line on foot without his bike.

After a period of deliberation race officials deemed Dementyev aggressive riding was responsible for the crash and disqualified him, while Donohoe's situation was a little more complicated.

The Australian waited 15 minutes after the crossing the line for a judgment over whether he had won Paralympic gold. He was ultimately disappointed after race officials told him they had to disqualify him on a technicality.

UNBELIEVABLE-Gebru wins #Olympics Road Race C4-5 after the 2 leaders crash just before the finish (Via @citrus_pers) pic.twitter.com/ZRXFzhSaT1

— CyclingHub (@CyclingHubTV) September 17, 2016

After the race the 21-year old Australilan said that at the time, the only thing in his head was that he had to get over the line.

"I just knew that I had to get myself across," he said. "It was an emotional rollercoaster because I waited 15 minutes to figure out what the result was and then  I got told they'd given it to me and then they later told me technically they couldn't.

"I'm devastated but I'm not actually in tears because I gave it my best go, it wasn't my fault, there was nothing I could do about the finish and I did everything in my power to try and win.

"If I had my time over I wouldn't change a thing."

An alternative angle on the crash was caught on camera and shared on twitter by CyclingHub. From that angle the aggressive riding from Ukrain's Dementyev - who was taken to hospital after the race in a neck brace - is more obvious, and his disqualification somewhat more understandable. 

Here is an alternative angle of the crazy finish. (thanks to @GazetteDesSport)pic.twitter.com/19UOGUTHok

— CyclingHub (@CyclingHubTV) September 18, 2016

Below is the Channel 4 coverage of the incident:

In all three videos you can see eventual gold medal winner Daniel Abraham Gebru of the Netherlands crossing the finish line arms aloft.

Brazilian rider Lauro Cesar Chaman finished shortly after to claim the silver medal, while Italy's Andrea Tarlao took bronze.

The finish line incident was sadly overshadowed by tragic events that had taken place behind the leading bunch.

Iran's only cycling representative at these games, Bahman Golbarnezhad, crashed on one of the course's descents and suffered a cardiac arrest en route to the Athlete's Hospital.

The rider was immediately diverted to Unimed Rio Hospital where he died not long after his arrival.

He leaves behind a wife and a son.

- Read more: Para-cyclist from Iran dies following Rio road race crash