US rider Brandon McNulty was knocked off his bike by the driver of a car before the stage 16 individual time trial at the Tour de France in Évian-les-Bains, his team boss confirmed on Tuesday.
McNulty was reportedly heading to the start when he was taken out by a member of the public in a vehicle, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG team principal Mauro Gianetti has played down any threat of serious injury, telling TNT Sports "it is nothing big."
"He was just coming to the start with the bike. One car was a little bit upset behind him; we don't know why, and then he overpassed Brandon, and he stopped the car. Unfortunately, of course, Brandon, he crashed on the car," explained Gianetti outside the team bus.
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"Apparently it's nothing so big and all good, but it was not nice. Yes, it was a car from the public, and we don't know."
After initially finding out that McNulty had crashed, Gianetti was still unsure whether he would make his intended start time of 16:40:30 CEST: "I hope so. I’m still waiting for the confirmation of the doctor," said the UAE boss to The Athletic.
Having escaped the incident without injury, former US TT champ McNulty did roll down the start ramp on time, as one of the final 20 riders, starting the day in 19th overall, more than 50 minutes down on his team and race leader, Tadej Pogačar, who will start last at 17:15.
Cyclingnews has reached out to UAE Team Emirates-XRG for an update on McNulty's condition and whether the incident would require any further action.
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