Horse on course: 13 and a half times animals disrupted the pro peloton
A short history of critters causing chaos for cyclists
Strade Bianche always delivers a thrilling spectacle, but this year was a little different. Saturday’s racing delivered absolutely wild images of Demi Vollering and a race moto nearly getting sideswiped by a horse as the SD Worx rider chased a breakaway. Vollering safely escaped the equine interloper, chased down the lead rider and won Strade in a thrilling sprint. But it all could have ended very differently.
Vollering’s close call isn’t the only time the pro peloton’s had close calls, and the occasional collision, with the animal world. Open courses on public roads are great for fans to get close to the racing, but it’s less fun when animals join in the action. Pets, farmer’s herds and even wildlife have disrupted major and minor races for years.
Here are 13.5 times the animal world crossed paths with the world of pro cycling.
That shriek from Demi. Chilling stuff pic.twitter.com/FJB1FCX3V9
— The TT Podcast ? (@ttpdcst) March 4, 2023
Demi Vollering at 2023 Strade Bianche
SD Worx 1-2 finish at 2023 Strade Bianche almost didn’t happen when a horse dove onto course beside Demi Vollering rider. The Dutch rider avoided the horse and its wildly whipping lead, continued her chase and won the race.
Il video con i cavalli impauriti che hanno invaso la 13^ tappa del #giro , by @signorbiga pic.twitter.com/rCPNgDminP
— Team Lampre Merida (@lampre_merida) May 21, 2016
Horses join galloping Giro d’Italia descent
Vollering’s equine encounter isn’t the only time horses have joined in a major race. During the 2016 Giro d’Italia, a pair of horses galloped along as the peloton flew down a winding, technical descent. Superstitious race fans won’t be surprised to learn the close call happened during the Giro’s 13th stage, from Palmanova to Cividale del Friuli. A Movistar team car attempted to guide the horses off course, with little success, but luckily all riders safely rode away.
On the fourth and final day of the 2019 Vuelta a Andalucia and whole herd of cattle stampeded onto the road mid-stage. Somehow, all riders, team cars and cows safely steered clear of each other.
Just a wee disruption: Tour of Poland’s tiny horse
The 2017 had a slight disruption to the sixth stage of racing when a miniature horse joined in the event. The pint-sized pinto was able to keep up with the peloton for more than a kilometre before a Gazprom-RusVelo rider ushered it out of the way.
Course de la Paix jr @OutOfCycling pic.twitter.com/Bf6niQ0vEQ
— Vegar Kulset (@VegarKulset) May 5, 2022
Course de la Paix close call
Riders at the 2022 Course de la Paix Juniors in the Czech Republic had a close call when a herd of deer made its way across the road in front of the peloton. While all riders and deer avoided a collision, just watching the replay as the ungulates leap across the road one by one is stressful.
Canine chaos
Dogs and pro cycling do not go together particularly well. Canines have caused all kinds of chaos, and crashes, throughout recent years. At last year’s Tour de France, an off-leash dog caused a crash during Stage 12. Yves Lampert and Steven Kruijswijk fell when the dog darted out onto the road. Both were able to continue the race.
In 2012, Philippe Gilbert was understandably unhappy when he collided with a dog on Stage 18. Even when supervised, dogs can be disruptive.
Peter Sagan narrowly avoided disaster during the 2017 Terrenio-Adriatico TT when a pedestrian walked their dog out onto the road in front of him.
An unknown dog joined an unnamed Italian race, also in 2017, putting in an impressive turn on the front before the peloton worked its way past.
Canines seem to fare better in cyclocross. The Druivencross dog happily trotted along with racers in 2019.
Three years earlier, a gleeful pet joined in Jaamarktcross for a few run-ups.
Mateo Trentin takes on a bear in Tahoe
After the 2017 Tour of California, Mateo Trentin stayed stateside for altitude training around Lake Tahoe. When a bear stepped out onto the road in the middle of a high-speed descent, Trentin had no chance to avoid it. Neither rider nor bear were injured, amazingly, thanks to the Quick Step racer’s helmet.
Canadian triathlete and mountain biker Nathan Killam wasn’t quite as lucky. Killam t-boned a bear while going 55 km/h on a TT bike, snapping his frame, breaking a tooth and suffering serious road rash. The Vancouver racer was still happy to come away relatively uninjured. The bear was also fine.
Dan Martin’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège Panda
On his way to winning the 2013 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Garmin-Sharp’s Dan Martin was chased by a panda in the final kilometre. Well, sort of. A frenzied fan in a panda suit somehow got inside the barriers on the finish straight and chased Martin and Joaquim Rodriguez. With 400 m to go, the panda faded and Martin surged. Apparently unaware of the pursuing panda, Martin out kicked Rodriguez to win his first Monument. Pandas would follow the Irish rider in various forms for the next several years of his career.
