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Shocking moment driver crashes into lead rider in Brazilian road race, which leads to entire peloton staging an on-road protest

The crash was reportedly caused by a driver ignoring a poorly marshalled road block, with riders deciding to abandon the stage in mass protest at the lack of safety provisions

Shocking footage has emerged of the lead rider in a Brazilian road race being hit by a car, after the driver reportedly ploughed through a road block that wasn't being monitored by authorities. In protest, the whole peloton subsequently abandoned the stage and laid their bikes in the road. 

The incident happened on the fourth and final stage of the Garulhos Tour, with the impact destroying the rider's bike and badly damaging his knee according to Mundo Bici. Look closely in the background, and you can also see a policeman checking his phone, seemingly oblivious to what's about to happen. 

The peloton then collectively decided the stage wasn't safe to continue with roadblocks not being policed, and abandoned the stage; therefore, the overall victory was awarded to Rodrigo De Melo of Team Cycling Funvic based off the first three stage results, and the first 52km of what should have been a 70km final stage. 

Many Brazilians on social media claim the crash was an accident waiting to happen, and applauded the solidarity of the riders for downing their bikes and saying enough is enough. 

Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story). 

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2 comments

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HLaB | 5 years ago
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The Lucky Oxymoron :-o

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racyrich | 5 years ago
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That's shocking. And there are coppers standing idly by watching too.

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