BIKING MAD
Watch shocking moment cyclist crashes into spectator after woman ran out into road at finish line
THIS is the heart-stopping moment a spectator is smashed to the ground after walking in front of a cyclist nearing the finish line of an event in Spain.
The woman was assisted at the scene and her condition is unknown.
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The unnamed male competitor was taken to a local hospital with head injuries.
Shocking footage taken from the finish line at Saturday’s event - called the Salmor Bike on the Canary Island of El Hierro - showed the woman crossing the road as the cyclist was almost level with her.
Seconds earlier another man had been filmed sauntering across the same spot between two lines of spectators with a mobile phone in his hand.
Onlookers could be overheard screaming as the brutal impact occurred.
The force of the collision sparked initial fears one of the injured pair’s lives could be at risk.
One local report on Sunday said the unnamed woman had been airlifted to Tenerife because of the seriousness of her injuries, although there was no immediate official confirmation.
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The horror incident happened around 2.45pm on Saturday.
Local media flagged up the lack of barriers in some sections of the final part of the course which would have prevented spectators from crossing in front of the competitors.
The organiser of the event, suspended last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, has been identified as Frontera Town Hall.
There has been no official comment so far from the local council, which tweeted footage of the start of the event but nothing showing the end of the ride, in which 270 cyclists including 100 from the island of El Hierro took part.
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency services coordination centre confirmed: “An injured cyclist in El Hierro has been taken to hospital following a collision with another person.
“We received a call around 2.45pm on Saturday and alerted Civil Guard and the local ambulance service as well as a doctor and nurse from a nearby health centre.
“The information we received was that the cyclist had run over another person during a sporting event.
“The cyclist was taken to a hospital called Nuestra Señora de Los Reyes and appeared from a first evaluation to be suffering from non-serious head injuries.
“The woman who had been knocked over was treated at the scene by medical services covering the event.
“A police investigation into the incident is underway.”
Civil Guard officers could not be reached for comment early on Sunday morning.
A fan responding on social media to images of the collision said: “How is it possible that the organisers of an event like this let members of the public so near to the finish line and put the safety of the cyclists at risk!”
In June a woman was blamed for a massive Tour de France crash after holding out a banner on the first stage of the prestigious event.
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Nine riders were injured in the biggest pile-up in Tour de France history.
Earlier this month the 31-year-old woman, whose identity was kept secret due to online abuse, was told she faces a four-month suspended prison sentence after a brief trial in Brest.
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