Jesper Skibby getting run over

afx237vi
afx237vi Posts: 12,630
edited March 2010 in Pro race
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j03obuRA ... r_embedded

Skibby was pretty lucky not to have a pair of broken legs here, no? Also note that the driver almost took out a spectator standing in the gutter.

The driver had to pass because the peloton was coming, but it wasn't that close. They took the Koppenberg out of the race after that incident, but wasn't it more a case of one idiotic driver than the hill actually being dangerous?

(via http://lagazzettadellabici.blogspot.com/ )

Comments

  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    Skibby was very lucky not to be injured. The scant regard for a rider's safety caused a huge stir in Belgium at the time, understandably so. The riders make the race, not the race director and his driver!

    That said, many of the roads used in Flanders are very, very narrow and it's surprising that we don't see more incidents like this. The race direction is now much more sensible and cars are routed around many of the narrower, steeper cobbled climbs.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    Typical BMW driver

    Thanks for the clip - I'd only ever seen photos before.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Echappee
    Echappee Posts: 79
    Jesper_Skibby-798-75.jpg
  • le_patron
    le_patron Posts: 494
    Jeez, I had only ever seen the stills before as well. The het nieuwsblad car wasn't much better either, case of drivers under pressure. Doesn't matter how close the main field was.

    Nice build up stuff to Sunday...can't wait. Favourite time of the year.
  • csp
    csp Posts: 777
    Your favourite photographer has a section on his website dedicated to this.

    http://www.grahamwatson.com/2002/koppen ... cover.html
  • SpaceJunk
    SpaceJunk Posts: 1,157
    I dob't know what is scarier. The incident or the guy in the crowd looking down the lens of the camera for about 5 seconds (from 3 sec mark onwards).


    BTW - check this clip out (sorry it's off topic and has really annoying music and the 10 sec Borat intro).

    But is that true footage from Courchevel in 2000 with Virenque doing a double take??


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYnfWP9t0Kk&NR=1&feature=fvwp
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    they took that climb out for a few years after that...

    chain snapper for cancellara
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    SpaceJunk wrote:
    I dob't know what is scarier. The incident or the guy in the crowd looking down the lens of the camera for about 5 seconds (from 3 sec mark onwards).


    BTW - check this clip out (sorry it's off topic and has really annoying music and the 10 sec Borat intro).

    But is that true footage from Courchevel in 2000 with Virenque doing a double take??


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYnfWP9t0Kk&NR=1&feature=fvwp

    yes
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    Weren't they Basque protestors trying to gain publicity?