TV cameras have captured the moment a spectator appeared to grab the handlebars of the bike of Velocio-Sram rider Loren Rowney and sent her crashing to the ground as she sprinted against former world champion Giorgia Bronzini this afternoon.
The incident took place at the end of the 138-kilometre Dutch race, the Drentse 8 van Wetsterveld, with the Australian rider going into the barriers as her bike was pulled towards them, apparently on purpose.
You can see the incident in this highlights video of the race, which starter and finished in Dwingeloo and is part of the programme ahead of Saturday’s Ronde van Drenthe, the first race in the 2015 UCI Women Road World Cup.
Rowney’s team – formerly Specialized Lululemon – said in a tweet afterwards that following the crash she was “up and walking away” although TV footage showed her holding he left shoulder with her right hand.
36 thoughts on “Video: Rider sent crashing as spectator grabs bike in sprint finish”
what the hell? I hope they
what the hell? I hope they find the culprit. Got to be assault at least?
She’s got a broken collar
She’s got a broken collar bone X(
Why?
Why?
That’s unreal, at first I
That’s unreal, at first I thought it must be an accident but that’s a definite grab. Hope they find the person who did that.
GBH that is.
GBH that is.
what the phukk !!!
what the phukk !!!
That’s just unbelievable…
That’s just unbelievable… poor girl. What a wanker.
“appeared to”??
He needs to
“appeared to”??
He needs to be in court.
Looked like an old
Looked like an old white-haired guy to me.
Why would any one do that?
Baffling thing to do there.
Baffling thing to do there. Hopefully incidents like these don’t change the unique amount of access to riders and the action that makes cycling the sport it is. Sadly we see people doing stupid things for photographs etc.
what a grub, nail them to the
what a grub, nail them to the ground and have the peloton attempt to bunny hop them at speed.
What a tool.
What a tool.
What a low-life piece of
What a low-life piece of shit.
Hope she gets well soon.
When I first saw this, it
When I first saw this, it looked like he was hitting the railing, but he pauses. What a tw@! What where the injuries?
Broken collerbone
Broken collerbone apparently.
It’s actions like this which, as said above, will mean genuine fans lose out, as before long they’ll have a 2 metre exclusion zone along the finish straight so these things don’t happen.
WTF? Why go to a race if you
WTF? Why go to a race if you are going to do this. Might have to be careful, as this guy is clearly disturbed. Speedy recovery for poor Loren.
Was it Jeremy Clarkson?
Was it Jeremy Clarkson?
Clarkson? I thought his bete
Clarkson? I thought his bete noir was caravans?
I thought JC’s bete noir was
I thought JC’s bete noir was ass. producer. 🙂
What a total wanker, why
What a total wanker, why would anyone do such a thing.
Just speechless. What did
Just speechless. What did they think the outcome would be at that speed?!
What a horrible man. I’ve
What a horrible man. I’ve watched the footage over and over. No doubt about it, deliberate and disgusting. Someone will have a photo from the other side. I hope they catch you.
Watching the video carefully
Watching the video carefully and reading the Dutch reports, seems more like an accident. It looks like the guy (along with other spectators) is banging on the boards when his arm catches the riders handlebar.
3mkru73 wrote:Watching the
Totally disagree. While it is true that he is banging the boards before the incident, his arm comes out much further than previously in order to hit her handlebar.
If it was an accident I’m
If it was an accident I’m sure he’ll want to come forward and apologise. He might have sustained an injury too for his carelessness.
Of course if it was
Of course if it was deliberate it’s despicable but I looked at the vid frame by frame and although the vid is not very clear I think it was accidental. The guy is banging the side and I think he lifts his arm to do a more pronounced bang for Bronzini and catches Rowney’s handlebar on the down stroke. He doesn’t appear to actually grab her handlebar, just hit it. Perhaps he was looking at Bronzini and didn’t see Rowney till too late. Immediately afterwards his actions could be interpreted as someone horrified by what they had done.
Since Bronzini was ahead and so close to the line there was no benefit racewise to knock Rowney off.
Lets hope he comes forward.
That was a deliberate action
That was a deliberate action on behalf of the grey haired spectator. Not sure what the Dutch laws are but that would be GBH if the poor woman has a broken clavicle, totally reckless and unwarranted. Has this ever happened before? X(
Looks like a careless
Looks like a careless accident to me unless the spectator is just one seriously talented handlebar grabber.
If it was such an accident
If it was such an accident … why did he disappear into the crowd so
rapidly ????
therevokid wrote:If it was
Are you seeing a different video to the rest of us? All you can see from this is that he stands up a little.
I blame the spectator on the grassy knoll, personally.
This is obviously deliberate.
This is obviously deliberate. The assailant is banging the side then reaches right out at the exact moment the cyclist passes. It could not possibly be an accident.
There is a video from a
There is a video from a different angle that shows it better. The guy wasn’t banging before or after – his only action was to grab the bars.
Looks deliberate from that angle.
fenix wrote:There is a video
Do you have a link fenix?
He’s handed himself into the
He’s handed himself into the organisers claiming his innocence…..is that before the lynch mob found him X(
This is another angle, he is banging the boards, but makes a clear movement to take her bars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH7HeBpPbQA&feature=youtu.be
Looks entirely deliberate to
Looks entirely deliberate to me, after watching several times. Doesn’t look like his earlier action of banging the boards at all.
changed my mind again. His
changed my mind again. His excuse seems entirely implausible.