Dog causes crash on stage 2 of Vuelta a San Juan - Video

The breakaway during stage 2 of the Vuelta a San Juan (Image credit: Getty Images)

After stage 1 of the Vuelta a San Juan was spoiled by a mass pile-up caused by a spectator, the second stage saw several riders in the breakaway crash after a dog ran out into the road.

The incident came with 148km left to race on the flat stage starting and finishing in Pocito, which was won by Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates). As the breakaway rolled along, 1:14 up on the peloton, a black dog ran out into their path.

Three of the riders in the break – Leandro Velardez (Agrupacion Virgen de Fatima-Saddledrunk), Christofer Jurado (Panama) and Iker Ballarin (Fundación-Orbea) – managed to avoid colliding with the dog. Robinson Ruiz (Peru) wasn't so lucky, riding into the dog and then sliding out trying to avoid a collision with Ballarin.

Right behind the Peruvian, Velardez's teammate, sprinter leader Daniel Juarez, was unable to avoid flying over his handlebars and hitting the deck. Further back, the remainder of the break, including Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling) were forced to stop. 

Meanwhile, the dog, which is reportedly unharmed, could be seen running away from the scene of the accident shortly afterwards. 

All riders rejoined the race without any problem, though Ruiz dropped back to the main peloton after getting back on his bike. Gaviria went on to take his first victory of the season, launching his sprint from a poor position to beat Nicolás Javier Naranjo (Agrupacion Virgen de Fatima-Saddledrunk) and Marco Benfatto (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) to the line.

The Colombian leads the race ahead of stage 1 winner Rudy Barbier (Israel Start-Up Nation) on account of his better stage placings. The Vuelta a San Juan continues on Tuesday with stage 3, a 15.2km time trial from Ullum to Punta Negra.

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Daniel Ostanek
Production editor

Daniel Ostanek is production editor at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired as staff writer. Prior to joining the team, he had written for most major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.

 

Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.

 

As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Daniel also runs The Leadout newsletter and oversees How to Watch guides throughout the season. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he rides a Colnago C40.