Cycling superstar Mark Cavendish dramatically crossed the finish line of a Giro d’Italia stage without his bike while sliding across the tarmac on his backside.
A chaotic day in Italy saw the star end stage five in the seaside city of Salerno by crashing metres from the end, The Sun reports.
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An off-balance Cavendish, 37, lost control of his bike in a sprint bunch when his back wheel began spinning, he slammed a rival into the advertising hoarding by mistake and was then catapulted out of his saddle.
Yet despite the incredible high-speed situation, Cav still recorded fifth place – with victory going to Australian Kaden Groves.
Norwegian Andreas Leknessund kept hold of the pink jersey following four hours and 30 minutes of tough riding.
Conditions were wet, foggy and murky over the 171km course and there were multiple crashes on slippery roads on a hectic afternoon.
Belgian pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel remains in second place despite coming down twice.
One incident occurred when a stray dog ran out into the path of the peloton and this panic caused several riders to fall.
Evenepoel had to be seen by a doctor after the incident, but was fortunately able to continue.
The dog also seemingly came out of the incident unscathed.
Following the dangerous incident, it scampered back to the pavement.
Slovenian star Primoz Roglic, the Olympic time trial champion, had to borrow a teammates’ bike when he also came off on the final corner with 2.3km left.
Cavendish, who will ride stage six on Thursday in Naples, said in a video: “I’ve had my wounds cleaned up and my knee’s a little bit sore. But I don’t think there’s anything broken.
“We haven’t checked that out yet but I don’t have the pain of anything broken.
“Only the morale is a little bit (sore). I was in perfect position, I kicked for the sprint, my back wheel was on the white line, and when I kicked it slides the wheel.
“The circumstances after that, well it’s sprinting. You know, it’s part of sprinting.
“I just hope everybody else who crashed is okay, too, I saw some stretchers and that. “So, we try again, and congratulations to Kaden Groves, too.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
