Video: Rider almost crashes through shop window at World Championships

Here’s a cyclist who might be well advised to invest in a Euromillions ticket this evening with this kind of luck – Belgium’s Fabio Van den Bossche, who almost crashed through a shop window during today’s men’s under-23 road race at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Flanders.

The 21 year old veered sharply to the right – possibly after a touch of wheels – and somehow managed to unclip and dismount as his bike went from under him (and almost into a wheel-bender type stand), holding his hands out to brace himself for an impact with the window that thankfully when it happened was a relatively gentle one.

"Thank goodness it only ended up like that!" 😳

That could've been a disastrous crash 🪟💥🚴#Flanders2021 pic.twitter.com/DWNRvdgu77

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) September 24, 2021

The incident took place during what has been a crash-strewn start to the 161.1km race from Antwerp to Leuven, with Axel Merckx – presumably dad Eddy is taking the day off from criticising young riders – attributing the falls to a mixture of nervousness and inexperience, according to Sporza.

It’s not the first time Van den Bossche, who is in his second season at the UCI Professional Continental team, Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise, has caught the attention of the TV cameras this year – back in April, he fulfilled one of the dreams that any Belgian kid who’s ever ridden a bike must have, by getting in the break at the Tour of Flanders.