Footage has emerged of a furious local walking across the road during the final kilometre of the Tour of Britain’s second stage, narrowly avoiding being struck by the charging peloton in the process.
The bizarre and extremely dangerous near miss, filmed by photographer Barry Robinson, took place on Thursday in Skegness, the finishing town of stage two of this year’s Tour of Britain, won in a sprint by Tim Merlier.
In Robinson’s footage, a woman can be seen storming across the road at a non-barriered junction, located under a kilometre from the finish line, shortly after the leading group, containing Merlier and most of the favourites, had passed.
As spectators shout at her, she can be seen waving her arms in apparent frustration before ignoring them and continuing to cross the closed road.
As she reaches the other side of the road, which is barriered off, a race motorbike rider, blaring his horn, passes, followed less than a second later by a large group led by Netcompany Ineos, whose Italian leader Filippo Ganna had punctured earlier in the stage.
The woman, wheeling a shopper bag behind her, continues to stand on the road as the riders speed by, just a short distance away, before making her way through a gap in the barriers.
Posting a clip of the incident on Facebook, local photographer Robinson wrote: “Well stupid or what?”
He wasn’t the only one to criticise the actions of the seemingly frustrated Skegness resident, Graham Scott writing: “There is always one.”
However, others expressed concern about the lack of barriers and marshals at a pivotal part of the route, when the peloton would be battling for space at high speed ahead of the sprint for the line.
“Why was she even able to cross?” asked Stephen Whitley, while Angela Gooch wrote: “That’s why we needed barriers!”
The stubborn local wasn’t alone in expressing her frustration with a temporary road closure caused by the visit of an international sporting event – though other Skegness residents restricted their complaints to social media, not the race route itself.
Under a video posted by a local holiday let, showing the post-race clear-up operation, Richard Ord wrote: “What about all the trade that was lost because people could not get to park?”
Meanwhile, Graham Jordan moaned: “So that’s why you can’t get an ambulance when you need one.”
Of course, the Skegness shopper isn’t the first member of the public to step out in front of a bike race, deliberately or otherwise, in recent years.
At the 2024 Rund um Köln one-day race, the breakaway somehow managed to avoid what would have been a nasty collision with an elderly pedestrian who had wandered across a zebra crossing.
The woman – seemingly oblivious to the fact that one of Germany’s biggest bike races was taking place – was halfway across the pedestrian crossing just as the seven-strong escape group emerged from a roundabout.
A number of riders were able to move sharply to avoid the bewildered and stunned local (who seemed to be unaware of the racers until they were level with the zebra crossing), though both Team Lotto Kern-Haus’ Mauro Brenner and Caja-Rural’s Czech rider Michal Schlegel, especially, were forced to showcase some expert bike handling skills to narrowly jink either side of the pedestrian.
Ole Theiler wasn’t so lucky, however, the 21-year-old German hitting the woman’s walking aid with his back wheel, knocking it from her hands and dragging it along the road. While the pedestrian appeared to lose her balance in the collision, both her and Theiler remained, rather miraculously, upright following the bizarre incident.
The issue of pedestrians using crossings during races – despite the road in question being closed – has become an increasingly common concern in recent years, with a number of oblivious locals also spotted availing of the infrastructure during the first time trial of the 2023 Giro d’Italia, while riders were hurtling towards them at 50kph.
And at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, delays in ushering spectators and pedestrians across the road at some predetermined but congested crossing spots led to a few near misses with oncoming racers on the city centre circuit.
During the junior men’s road race, one group, including Ireland’s Seth Dunwoody, turned the corner onto Buchanan Street only to be faced with crowds covering the width of the road, with only the frantic attempts of the marshals – and some short sprints from local shoppers – securing just about enough room for the group to squeeze through.
That close organisational call came just hours after France’s Julie Bego, the surprise winner of the women’s junior race after a brave solo ride, made her way around the final left hander, only to see – not the finishing straight or the roar of an appreciate crowd – but a line of pedestrians again crossing the road, in a chaotic cycling version of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover.
24 thoughts on ““That’s why we needed barriers!” Fuming local crosses road in front of charging peloton during final kilometre of Tour of Britain stage”
Looks like she’s a few chips short of a fish supper.
@Daclu Trelub Yeah…that sort of expression is OK when being jocular about someone who’s a bit dense or slow on the uptake, is it really appropriate for someone who quite obviously has mental health/dementia issues?
@Rendel Harris Go and bother somebody else with your opinion.
@Daclu Trelub Well no, given that I object to the use of derogatory slurs against people with mental health issues I think I’ll “bother” the person who’s using derogatory slurs against people with mental health issues.
Have a little think, if capable: if your mother or someone else close to you had dementia or mental health issues, would you be happy for people to be pointing at them mockingly saying, “Looks like she’s a few chips short of a fish supper”? Stop it.
Of all the things to morally police on the internet this is a bit ambitious.
@Rendel Harris that’s a very mature comment from you for once. Well done, keep it up.
@Rendel Harris
A bit dense or slow on the uptake could be symptoms of mental health / dementia issues.
More evidence of lycra clad louts streaking through town centres and endangering pedestrians. I noticed that the cyclists had number plates on their shorts, but they weren’t nearly large enough to be read, even at a distance of 10 yards, while I was parking my car on the road near the finish line, opposite The Bigot and Flag, where I was going to watch telly coverage of the Reform UK conference, over a few pints. And I have perfect eyesight, having not visited my optician since 1964.
Well done to that woman for keeping calm under challenging circumstances!
Farage can’t come to power soon enough in my view.
@Mr Blackbird I see the pro-cycling crowd is out with false plates – further confusing the locals.
I thought that was because they were all taking the knee or being used to ferry illegal asylum seekers between crimes and/or sex reassignments? Keep up!
“What about all the trade that was lost because people could not get to park?”
What about all the extra visitors that arrived just for the race? Maybe thats why there was also a lack of parking. Skeg vegas is hardly the most popular out of season destination
@Tazwaz You’re trying to apply some modicum of logic to someone who has a room temperature IQ and a healthy hatred of cyclists.
Very poor from the organisers, as the resident said, “There’s always one” and yes, there always will be one, often a confused elderly person lacking the capacity to understand the consequences of their actions, and so you have to fully barrier crossing points in that sort of situation and have marshals in charge of opening and closing. It’s very lucky we’re not talking about serious injury or death.
I saw a similar incident a few years back at the British Champs. Dad and son crossing the road ar the bottom of Saltburn Bank, presumably to get to the beach. Dad made a dash for it leaving the son in the middle of the road. Top parenting. Luckily it was just a solo breakaway rider so easily avoided disaster. It’s not like there’s not enough warning. Police motorcycles whizzing past sirens blaring. It’s just impatience / entitlement.
I was a few bikes away from the fatal collision during Ride London a few years ago, I barely avoided the victim’s dog which was running loose. Definitely one of those slo-mo adrenaline fuelled moments and I was only doing about 40kph. At lead out speeds it really doesn’t bear thinking about.
@kil0ran
I had a slightly different experience at Ride London. Riding up the Mall towards the finish line, a young lad who was doing the shorter ride (the one where they join the route 16km or so from the end?) was playing Billy BIg Bollocks and swerving all over the road, playing up to his mates. He swerved right across the front of me and I’ve no idea how I managed to miss him.
Incidents like this used to happen when I did crit races at hove park, crystal palace and other places. 99% of people supportive, but occasionally one stubborn person would deliberately walk across the track, sometimes whith a dog too, whilst the race was on, presumably annoyed their regular route was blocked. I’m not even sure barriers or more marshalls would help. If someone is sufficiently annoyed that their route is blocked that they’ll do anything to cross and you can’t physically restrain them. Yes this might cause injuries, even their own, but some people may be in a state of mind where they don’t care.
Same thing happened on the roads too, someone would force their car past marshalls and to hell with the consequences.
@ribena They could probably get a PCN under Section 127 of the Highways Act.
“Wifully obstructing a Public Highway”.
That’s the one used for Extinction Rebellion etc aiui.
I think the “wear black to make us look slimmer” crowd in Dover could potentially get the same thing, if they can be identified.
@mattw I am not entirely clear on the law but I’m not sure that would work, would it, because surely once the road has been closed for the race doesn’t it cease to be a public highway? I would guess that a charge of reckless endangerment would have a better chance in court, carrying as it does the element of acting with a conscious disregard for human life or safety, but one would imagine in this case it would be hard to make it stick given the fact that the lady appears to have mental health issues/dementia, so it would be hard to prove she was acting consciously, and also given the fact that the organisers had not actually provided adequate barriers/stewards/warnings to stop people entering the course.
@Rendel Harris I’m not sure, which is why I am a bit “may” and speculative.
It is used for all sorts of interesting things.
Er … there is a barrier, which is why she cannot get off the street at the other side.
@mattw Well, yes, but that’s about as efficacious as the proverbial chocolate fireguard, isn’t it? “We couldn’t manage to shut off both sides but we are reducing the risk of someone walking out in front of the peloton by 50% by barriering one side” is not going to be much consolation to a rider who hits someone on the course.
@Rendel Harris Yes.
It does rather remind me of hoons who insist on pushing through a road closed sign, just to find out half a mile later that it IS closed, and have to come back.
Perhaps we need a Bikeability for Pedestrians !
What doesn’t help in these cases is that the road is often no longer closed, but nobody could be arsed to take the signs down. Or more likely, the signs are managed by a different crew and they can’t come for a few days.
I’m not saying that the incidents are identical (no collision with this for one thing)…
But…
I immediately thought of the case of Hilda Griffiths when reading about this…
And presumably with this latest incident the police will try to find her for endangering the cyclists.
#FutureDarwinAwardNominee