Check out the spectator that gets spun around by Sebastian Langeveld. He steps away from the crash like he wasn’t involved. He starts to approach Langeveld, but then turns around and returns to his group. That’s a dick move in my book not to even check how serious Sebastian hurt!
According to Cyclingnews Langeveld was going between 70 to 80 kilometers an hour when they collided. The result was a broken collarbone for the GreenEdge rider and I’m guessing a sore calf for the lucky spectator to go along with a lifetime of story telling at the local pub.
I don’t completely blame the spectator for the crash, but really? Not even try and help out?
Also check out the balls on the guy in the white sweater standing between the trees on the extended sidewalk before the crash. As the peloton screams towards him, swarming on both sides, he doesn’t move a muscle – almost daring them to hit him!
Belgian spectators – they’re a different breed.
UPDATE
TourDeJose twittered the link to an interview with the spectator that ran into Langeveld. Dutch sport site, SportWereld, said that for spectator Didier Vanovertveldt Kluisbergen it was his first and last time watching a bike race.
While Langeveld broke his collarbone, Kluisbergen suffered an injury to his leg and heel.
“Everyone cared about the rider, no one looked at me. I had three kilometers on foot to stumble home,” said Kluisbergen. As a result Didier is laid-up for a week.
Langeveld said on his personal website that he doesn’t blame Didier and said it was just a reflexive reaction to the peloton charging toward him.
As I’m not able to speak, read or even know how to use a Dutch oven, I’m releying on a Google translation of the article, but it quotes – I’m guessing – someone from the Dutch (Belgian?) cycling federation as saying Langeveld shouldn’t have ridden on the bike path which ran adjacent to the road.
“The rules are clear: riders must ride on the road and not on the separated bike path. In this leading edge to the Old Kwaremont cycle is clearly separated. Langeveld was in error. ”
The easiest target to avoid is a stationary one – the guy in the sweater knew that, the guy who took down Langeveld didn’t.
Thx to @TourDeJose I updated my quick post re: Laneveld crash at #rvv, with interview of the spectator http://t.co/yh4Goa5n
Neil, interesting about modern rules regarding cycle path usage. If you have a look at old footage, especially in the single gear, pre-derailleur era, the race traversed a fair distance with cars on the road and peleton adjacent on the cycle path.