Marco Haller's Specialized Tarmac crushed by reversing driver

The team bike of Bora-Hansgrohe's Marco Haller, an enviable Specialized Tarmac SL7 kitted out to a value of around €20,000, was crushed by an unnoticing driver who reversed over it as the Austrian leapt off at the last-minute... before the motorist drove over it twice more.

Speaking to Austrian news website Kleine Zeitung, Haller explained how he had been riding in his home country, in the mountainous Ossiacher Tauern area, when he followed a pick-up truck driver down a single-lane road.

> First Ride Review: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7 Dura-Ace Di2

Meeting oncoming traffic the driver stopped, Haller deciding against overtaking and waiting behind the vehicle.

"Suddenly the white reversing lights came on," he recalled. "At the last moment I managed to get off the pedals with my racing shoes."

 [Zac Williams/SWpix.com]

The driver reversed over the team-issue Tarmac SL7, crushing it below its rear wheels. "In the end he had to go over it again, three times in all. Crazy," Haller added. "But the bad thing is that something like this doesn't have to happen because of excessive risk. As I said, I confessed. Imagine what happens in the city at a traffic light and a child is sitting on the bike.

"It's about more sensitivity here. I was very lucky because we constantly practice an emergency dismount. But that can also end very differently."

 [Zac Williams/SWpix.com]

Haller's training bike has been replaced by Bora-Hansgrohe, the driver opting against offering comment to the Austrian news outlet.

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It is not the first time Haller has suffered incident while training in his native country. Back in 2018, during his Katusha Alpecin days, he was unable to race for several months after being hit by a driver during a training ride with Bernie Eisel and suffering several fractures to his knee.

"I was riding with Bernie Eisel and was sitting in his wheel on a slight downhill, when suddenly a car, ignoring the stop sign, came at us from the right," Haller said at the time. "Bernie just managed to escape him, but I could not do that and hit the driver's door at full speed. My bike was completely destroyed and my knee as well."