Tour de France duo Benjamin Thomas and Matteo Vercher crashed after crossing the finish line on day one of the race. Stage one of this year’s event began in Lille on Saturday, with the riders sharing a prize pot of around £2.2million.
Thomas and Vercher were the only two riders to break away from the peloton as they went in search of a King of the Mountain bonus point. The stars immersed themselves in an epic mountain sprint battle as the climb finished on the cobbles, with Thomas ultimately prevailing after darting past his rival to take an extra point. But after crossing the finish line Thomas wobbled on his bike and swerved into Vercher as they both careered to the floor.
After scraping along the ground, Vercher eventually came to a halt in a seated position. And, in a sign of frustration, he stretched out his arms to question why Thomas had crashed into him.
“Down they go, the pair of them together,” exclaimed TNT Sports commentator Carlton Kirby as the incident unfolded. “Nightmare. That’s how important it was.
“That was the finishing line for Benjamin Thomas and he’s gone and taken out Vercher at the very last.”
Meanwhile, former professional cyclist Adam Blythe said: “Benjamin lunged so hard, his front wheel came off the ground and the wheel buckled under him almost.
“That was it, bang, straight over the handlebars, took down Vercher as well. But you could see the effort and the bouncing around of the wheels.”
Kirby then stated: “Well he got the point and then I’m afraid spiked himself and indeed Vercher.”
And Blythe added: “That was a toughly fought mountain sprint. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more aggressive sprint to the line for the mountain jersey ever.”
Vercher later spoke out about the incident on the Tour de France website as he explained: “The goal for the day was to break away with the idea of going for the polka dot jersey.
“When I found myself with Benjamin Thomas, I knew he was faster than me. Then there was an incident on Mont Cassel. I don’t blame him because that’s cycling, he made me fall but it could easily have been the other way round.
“The most important thing is that we can both start again tomorrow, because we could easily have broken something. In any case, I’m happy to start the Tour in this frame of mind, it will bring positive energy to the team.”