It’s one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to a pro cyclist – celebrating a ‘victory’ when the stage hasn’t actually finished.
But that’s what happened to Bahrain-Merida rider Luka Pibernik in Messina on Stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia this afternoon.
The Slovenian rider jumped off the front of the peloton and celebrated as he crossed the line in the home town of his team leader, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali.
Unfortunately for the 23-year-old, there was still another 7 kilometre lap of the closing circuit to go, with the stage eventually won by Quick Step Floors rider Fernando Gaviria.
That awkward moment when you celebrate too early
A shocker for @Bahrain_Merida rider Luka Pibernik #Giro100 pic.twitter.com/AfWQAW1Ria
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) May 10, 2017
Pibernik is far from the first rider to be left red-faced after celebrating too early, however.
In 2014, it happened to Spanish pro Eloy Teruel at the Amgen Tour of California.





















10 thoughts on “Video: Bahrain-Merida rider celebrates Giro d’Italia stage ‘win’ – a lap too early”
it would have been less
it would have been less embarrassing if it wasn’t for the footage of the guy furiously ringing the final lap bell…
at least in the olden days it
at least in the olden days it was only your team mates and other teams ripping the piss out of you for such a mistake, now it’s highlighted globally, social media and so on…oh the shame.lol
isn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last, so funny though 😀
In the immortal words of the
In the immortal words of the great American philosopher (Mr H Simpson): “Doh!”
Perhaps they could give him a
Perhaps they could give him a faded pink t-shirt as a token of his achievement.
This looks like something I would do, to international mockery!
Only a Millenial would not
Only a Millenial would not realize that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Best and worst day ever. How
Best and worst day ever. How many people can say they’ve had that
Maybe he won’t get a beating
Maybe he won’t get a beating from the Bahrain prince sponsor. Embarrassing as it is, it still beats getting DQed like his teammate Moreno yesterday.
Bless. Is he a neo-pro? Did
Bless. Is he a neo-pro? Did he really think he had raced away from the peloton with 300m to go with no real adverse gradient?
Elation and despair are two
Elation and despair are two sides of the same coin
He knew he couldn’t win the
He knew he couldn’t win the race, so created his own ‘winners’ photo at the finish line, while he had the chance