A car nearly drives into the winning break at Volta NXT Classic

A winning breakaway was almost cut short when, in the final kilometer of the Volta NXT Classic women’s race, a driver pulled a car out onto the course.

The driver realized the error, aided by some honking by a race vehicle, and backed most of the way off the course by the time the trio of breakaway riders passed by. It’s not clear why the course at the Dutch race was not more secure within the closing metres of the race.

At the point that the driver almost interrupted the race, Julia Kopecký was battling against a duo of SD Worx riders. The AG Insurance Soudal racer was trying to outwit, or overpower Femke Markus, her initial breakaway companion, and Niamh Fisher-Black. SD Worx was able to use numbers to their advantage, though, and Markus sprinted away for the win with 300m to go, shortly after the trio passed the car.

🚴🇳🇱 | Hoe kan dit gebeuren? Een auto rijdt bijna tegen de rensters op. 😩⚠️ #VoltaNXTClassic

📺 Koers kijk je op discovery+ pic.twitter.com/9LkIg1TYzq

— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) March 30, 2024

If that video is georestricted where you are, Eurosport has a longer clip from the race.

This isn’t the first, or worst time a car has nearly derailled a pro road race. Last year, the women’s CIC Tour Feminin International des Pyrenees had so many vehicles on course the UCI stepped in to cancel the stage race before its conclusion based on lack of rider safety. That was only months after a driver ruined the final stage of men’s Paris-Nice racing by getting on course mid-stage.