Another fan risked being hit to undo the sabotage as riders approached - Video
GIro d'Italia stage 18 breakaway: Nico Denz of Germany and Team AG2R La Mondiale / Mirco Maestri of Italy and Team Bardiani CSF / Damiano Cima of Italy and Team Nippo Vini Fantini - Faizane (Image credit: Getty Images)
A potential disaster was narrowly averted by an alert spectator at the Giro d'Italia on stage 18 after a man in a hoodie dropped a cruiser bicycle in front of the oncoming race.
Just after the race commissaire's car passed by ahead of the three-rider breakaway containing eventual stage winner Damiano Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane), a man walked the bike into the middle of the parcours and dropped it, the front wheel detached and bounced away.
Moments later, another spectator ran and grabbed the bike, missing the wheel, and pulled it safely out of the riders' way.
From television footage showing the incident occurred with approximately 61km to go, the apparently intentional act of possible sabotage took place either in or outside Conegliano, near the first intermediate sprint.
A second video of the incident surfaced that recorded the scene from a different angle and showed the man walking onto the course just after the lead vehicles passed by, and intentionally dropping a bike in the path of the riders.
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