‘He’s down, he’s down!’ – Mikel Landa crashes into team-mate Pello Bilbao at Giro d’Italia in awkward gaffe

Updated 24/05/2022 at 18:52 GMT

There are few things more awkward in sport than crashing into your own team-mate. An accident genre that was made famous in Formula 1 – just ask Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, or Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – made an unlikely appearance at the Giro d’Italia as Mikel Landa sent his Bahrain Victorious team-mate Pello Bilbao tumbling to the floor on Stage 16.

‘He’s down’ – Bilbao crashes into team-mate Landa, fans have to give him push start

Bahrain Victorious team-mates Pello Bilbao and Mikel Landa crashed into each other on Stage 16 at the 2022 Giro d’Italia – with the former stacking it and requiring a push-start from spectators to re-join the race.

Bahrain upped the tempo on the final climb towards Aprica as the Spanish pair attempted to reignite their GC hopes, but when Landa moved slightly to avoid a photographer he accidentally clipped his colleague Bilbao and sent him tumbling.

“He’s down, he’s down!” cried Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary.

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Landa was forced to unclip as he shot an apologetic look towards his team-mate, while Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) were forced to take evasive action.

Bilbao was quickly back on his feet as he yelled “push, push!” at nearby fans, who obliged by thrusting him back towards the maglia rosa group.

“That could have caused all sort of problems. It certainly disrupted his rhythm for a moment,” added Hatch.

Bilbao managed to quickly latch back on to make it an eight-strong group again, but it was not long before he was spat out the back when Landa – keen to make a nuisance of himself again – went on the attack.

Hindley finished the strongest of the select group to claw valuable bonus seconds back on race leader Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), with Landa finishing in the same time to keep his aspirations alive. Hindley is three seconds back on Carapaz, with Almeida at 44" and Landa at 59".