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Video: Bahrain-Merida rider celebrates Giro d'Italia stage 'win' - a lap too early

Bahrain-Merida's Luka Pibernik thought he'd won in team leader Vincenzo Nibali's home town - but there were 7 kilometres to go...

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.

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.

 

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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