Cyclists crash into course motorcycle during race

MOTORCYCLE presence at cycle races is one of contention. On one hand, they’re the most practical option for a number of purposes, including filming and marshalling, but on the other, they’re an advantage-giving nuisance, and often cause crashes.

Back in April cycling boss Patrick Lefevre claimed that motorbikes used by TV and medical crews are having too much of an effect on races, with trailing riders having to work harder than the leaders who were benefitting from the motorcycles' slipstream.

Another crash caused by a motorbike #boucles53 pic.twitter.com/b0KOjBmv1C

— McEEV (@GosuSM) 3 June 2018

Well it appears that during yesterday’s Boucles de la Mayenne UCI 2.1 race in France, the cyclists were too concerned with staying in each other’s slip streams to notice a motorcycle parked on the left of the course.

The cyclists were in a long line on the outside of the course when they approached the race organisation-owned motorcycle and while the leading riders managed to miss it by inches, others weren’t so lucky, and the resulting collision sent them, and the motorcyclist, sprawling to the floor.

Luckily none of the crashed riders were seriously injured.