Video: Crash at Tour of Guatamela as dog gets onto road

A dog that was off its leash caused a big crash on the final stage of the Tour of Guatemala last week when a rider tried to avoid the animal as it ambled out into the road, with other cyclists coming down behind him.

Several of those who crashed were injured, according to a report on soy502.com – although the website adds that the animal itself escaped unscathed.

The race was won by Costa Rican rider Jeison Elias Vega with his compatriot Roman Villalobos winning the general classification.

There’s a bit of history between dogs and bike races usually where the owners have decided it’s a good idea to let the pooch off the leash as the peloton approaches at speed – remember Philippe Gilbert remonstrating with a spectator at the 2012 Tour de France after a large dog caused a chute?

More happily, back in 2012 a small white dog became an unlikely internet celebrity in China when she decided to run alongside a team taking part in a long-distance race to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa – and completed the 1,700-kilometre distance on four legs.

> Stray dog beats 300 cyclists in 1700Km 'race' across China + video

Not to be left out, our feline friends have been known to get in on the action, too – in 2014, a cat got onto the velodrome track during a race at the Six Days of Ghent track meet in Belgium, with the riders managing to avoid hitting it.

> Video: Near cat-astrophe at Six Days of Ghent as cat leaps onto track

In 1997, however, the late Marco Pantani was forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia when he crashed after a black cat ran out in front of him during a descent.