A driver almost killed the entire peloton at the Famenne Ardenne Classic

Sure, Arnaud De Lie won the Famenne Ardenne Classic with just one leg, but there was even more drama with 4 km to go. As the race came to a close, Dylan van Baarle, Yves Lampaert, and Stan Dewulf were just ahead of the main group. After almost 180 km of racing, the pace was furious with riders hammering toward the finale.

Out of nowhere, a totally oblivious motorist, parked on the side of the road, decided to turn out and get in the way of the charging peloton. The riders were going full gas trying to catch the trio, so the speed was probably well over 50 km/h. Somehow, no one crashed or got hurt as riders swerved to avoid the vehicle. A few rightfully angry riders threw bottles at the driver, but that was that. Everyone regrouped for an even nuttier finish, when De Lie did his one-legged sprint and bike throw to take the win.

I was almost killed today by a motorist driving in a cycle track and it was terrifying

How this person couldn’t have seen, or heard the peloton and the entourage is unfathomable. Given that pro races have several cars in front of the pack, and an entire convoy behind–not to mention the 100s of cyclists that comprise the pack, it’s astonishing a driver would pull such a dangerous move.

At least they put their indicators on before pulling out into the road in between the breakaway and the bunch 😱 pic.twitter.com/KQVEiZLxSu

— the Inner Ring (@inrng) October 1, 2023