Remco Evenepoel was left with blood streaming down his face after crashing into a spectator just metres after crossing the finish line in Andorra to win Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana and take the overall lead of the race he won 12 months ago.

The spectator appeared to be on looking at her mobile phone and oblivious to the Soudal-Quick Step rider’s approach, and was knocked to the ground by the impact.

Overhead footage suggested that the Belgian champion, who had beaten back-to-back Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma to today’s stage win, did not apply his brakes until well after he crossed the line, and had he not hit the spectator, it seems entirely possible he would have struck some barriers stacked a short distance away.

Evenepoel, who is the defending champion in the Spanish Grand Tour, himself landed heavily after being thrown over his handlebars, and appeared winded and dazed as he lay on the ground following the crash.

Team personnel rushed to the aid of the former world champion, who had blood gushing from a cut above his right eye, and untangled him from his bike.

A short time afterwards, the 23-year-old was cleaned up as he visited the podium not only to take his bow as stage winner, but also to receive the red jersey as the new leader of the race.

While the blow he sustained to the head would clearly give rise to concerns about concussion, Evenepoel’s team said in a tweet, “he’s ok,” accompanied by a thumbs-up emoji.

It wasn’t the only post-finish line drama to be captured on video at today’s 158.5km stage from the Catalan town of Suria.

Earlier, footage posted to social media showed chaotic scenes at the finish line, with strong winds blowing over barriers and advertising hoardings just a couple of hours before the riders were due to arrive there at the conclusion of Stage 3 of the race.

In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, broadcaster Eurosport described the conditions in Arinsal, which is hosting a stage finish for the first time, as “worrying,” with the footage also showing what seem to be parasols from a hospitality zone across the road.

This year’s race opened with two days of relentless rain in Catalonia, with riders slamming organisers following Saturday’s team time trial in Barcelona which saw the final teams out on the course having to negotiate it in darkness.

And yesterday, the overall times for the opening road stage, which finished in the city, were taken with 9km remaining for safety reasons.  

The weather today has at been relatively clement by comparison, though an earlier downpour made for a sketchy descent to the foot of today’s final climb to the finish, currently being negotiated by the riders, who have also had to contend with a cross-headwind for most of the day.

There was no mention of the conditions at the finish line on the live feed on the Vuelta website.