Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe teammates Rafal Majka and Oscar Gatto were taken down by a pedestrian midway through the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy this afternoon.
Peter Sagan was also nearly involved but managed to keep his time trial bike upright on the wet roads in Lido di Camaiore.
The crash was caused when a pedestrian crossed the road in front of the Bora-Hansgrohe team as they rode the 21.5km team time trial.
What an idiot #TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/omX1dPHTpO
— The Puncheur (@thepuncheur) March 13, 2019
With a flat course, the riders were travelling at some speed, probably close to 60 kilometres an hour when the man seemed to ignore the police officer who was stopping traffic at a junction.
Bora-Hansgrohe continued with the race with five riders, needing only four to register a time for the stage.
Majka and Gatto finished several minutes behind with Majka looking the worst affected. Blood could be seen coming from his face and he may now be a doubt for the rest of the race.
It's not the first time that something like this has happened to a Bora-Hansgrohe rider at the Italian race.
Peter Sagan had to dig deep into his (rather big) box of skills to avoid a lady walking her dog during an individual time trial in the 2017 edition.
Peter #Sagan sarà leggermente arrabbiato...#EurosportCICLISMO #Tirreno pic.twitter.com/o6VdcHzt13
— Eurosport IT (@Eurosport_IT) March 14, 2017
And let's not forget the time that Team Sky's wheels smashed to pieces. The crash left Gianni Moscon with some nasty road rash.
What is it about TT bikes and Tirreno?
Son of a Marathon runner, Nephew of a National 24hr Champion, the racing genetics have completely passed him by. Liam spends his time plodding his way through cyclocross races, very busy not winning. As an advocate for perfectly clean chains, he can be found cleaning his bike instead of training. A shop mechanic, Liam has many helpful skills, such as being able to identify 'cross tubs by the tread pattern alone. If you bump into him, he'll probably be eating.