Junior rider taken out by spectator while leading Paris-Roubaix – Video

The men’s junior race at Paris-Roubaix was impacted by a crash involving a spectator, with Frenchman Soren Bruyère Joumard hitting the deck hard when he collided with a fan while out front in the race.

Joumard was part of a three-rider move that had 40 seconds over the peloton with 16km to go, when the incident occurred on Carrefour de l'Arbre, sector 4 of cobblestones.

It happened just as he looked to be launching an attack. From the back of the group, Joumard accelerated hard up the left-hand side of the sector, using the small strip of smooth mud to the side of the cobblestones.

As soon as he’d hit the front, he came crashing down, taking a big blow to the shoulder. He got back up quickly but his bike was broken, and his chances of victory sailed off into the distance.

Joumard reacts

“I’m really disappointed,” Joumard told Cyclingnews after riding to the finish in the Roubaix velodrome.

“The public are often very much leaning very much onto the pavè. I was looking for the smooth section on the side, people were making way, making way, until one person didn’t make way, and I hit him full in the shoulder.”

Joumard accepted some responsibility for the incident, acknowledging the risk he was running by seeking out the narrow strip of smoothness so close to the barriers.

“I was playing the game, but it’s also up to the spectators to pay attention, I think,” he said.

“The spectators need to know that we can use the whole pavé – the middle and the strip on the side. I think it’s a bit the fault of the two. That’s racing. It’s not the first time it happens and it won’t be the last time.”

Joumard finished 70th, 05:58 behind winner Thijs Wiersma (Netherlands).

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