🎥 Horrific footage from the Tour of Venezuela: reckless motorbike causes massive crash in bunch sprint, five injured

The Tour of Venezuela is an eight-day race in the UCI 2.2 category. Naturally, it’s the biggest cycling event in the South American country. The honor roll includes some big names: pure climbers like José Rodolfo Serpa and José Rujano have both won it, and in 2019 Orluis Aular took the overall victory. The Venezuelan champion is currently racing the Vuelta in Spain, and had to watch from afar as disaster struck back home.

The peloton was nearing the end of the relatively flat third stage. A bunch sprint was expected in Santa Elena de Arenales, and that’s exactly what happened. But in the final few hundred meters, a motorbike was still riding in front of the race. Whether it should have been there is unclear. What is clear is that the rider suddenly turned around. The sprinting peloton, just 10-20 meters behind, had no chance to avoid him and smashed into the motorbike at full speed.

The only positive thing we can say is that 'only' three riders actually hit the motorbike. But the footage was horrific. The consequences appear catastrophic: the motorbike and the riders slammed into the barriers, hitting spectators as well. Reports say a total of five people were injured. The images show total chaos, with several people carried away on stretchers.

The organizers have so far remained silent about the incident. The stage was eventually won by home rider Leangel Linarez, but afterwards no one was talking about that. The hope is that the riders’ injuries aren’t too serious... but given the horrific impact, fears are that they will not be mild.