- Kangaroos caused a crash during the final stage of the Tour Down Under cycling race in Australia.
- Race leader Jay Vine was involved in the crash but was not seriously injured.
- Vine’s teammate, Mikkel Bjerg, took the brunt of the impact and had to withdraw from the race.
- Despite the incident, Jay Vine went on to win his second Tour Down Under title.
Only in Australia.
Race leader Jay Vine and a few other racers crashed on the peloton after a pair of kangaroos jumped into the group.
You can hear the announcers mentioning ‘another disaster for the UAE team.’ Specifically, that team is UAE Team Emirates XRG, and they certainly had a rough go of it this weekend. Although the team boasted Jay Vine as the event leader going into the final stage, the team had suffered a few serious injuries to Jhonatan Narváez and Domestique Vegard Stake Laengen on Saturday which left them with just five racers on Sunday.
Vine and teammate Mikkel Bjerg were two of the racers most affected by the kangaroo debacle. In the video above, you can see Bjerg holding his leg in pain. He would not continue the race.
What did Vine say about the incident?
Vine, who was holding a massive 1:03 lead heading into the final stage, said that everything had gone ‘according to plan up until that point…The breakaway was well within reach.’
Vine said he lucked out, that the kangaroo didn’t hit him directly and that Bjerg took the brunt of the hit. ‘And then, unfortunately, we lost Mikkel, and he knocked the kangaroo into me. So it was just like pinballing inside the group there. But I didn’t fall too hard.’
Did Vine finish the race?
Not only did Vine finish the race, but he finished alongside the leading group, holding his massive 1:03 lead over the nearest competitor, Mauro Schmid.
The victory gave Vine his second Tour Down Under title in three years.
How did UAE Team Emirates XRG finish?
Despite their myriad of injuries and kangaroo encounters, UAE Team Emirates XRG finished in fourth place overall, just 54 combined seconds off the leaders Team Jayco Alula.