‘He’s hit a spectator!’ – Disaster as fan wipes out Yves Lampaert in horror incident at Paris-Roubaix

ByBen Snowball

Updated 17/04/2022 at 15:46 GMT

“You’re too close, man” cried Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary as Yves Lampaert was sent flying after hitting a fan at Paris-Roubaix. The spectator was clearly encroaching on the race route, with his hands appearing to catch the Belgian’s bike as he ripped past in pursuit of lone leader Dylan van Baarle. Lampaert eventually came home in 10th after seeing his podium hopes evaporate.

Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) had his podium dreams extinguished at Paris-Roubaix after he collided with a spectator in a shocking incident.

The Belgian was in a two-man chase group hunting down lone leader Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) when he was flung from his bike after catching the hand of an overzealous fan with 7km remaining.

“Oh my word, oh no! He’s hit a spectator,” cried Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary.

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“His dream race has been thrown to the ground. A shocker.”

Upon seeing a replay which showed how close the spectator was to the riders, Hatch added: “Oh no, no, no. You’re too close, man.

“All of that winter’s work has gone up because somebody got too close.

“If you come to these races, you have to realise how close the riders get. And that is going to hurt, not just physically, that will damage his soul. That is horrible.”

The guilty spectator was visibly closer to the action than those around him, while he was also hunched forward and clapping enthusiastically with his arms outstretched.

It evoked memories of the horror crash at the Tour de France last year when a fan wiped out the entire peloton with a sign.

While only one rider crashed this time on the cobbles, it was another reminder of the pitfalls of cycling’s fervent roadside support.

Lampaert re-joined the action but could not mount a fightback as he came home in 10th.

• Van Baarle wins as Ineos rip up dramatic Paris-Roubaix
• ‘Look where he’s stopped!’ – Terrifying near-miss as leader changes wheel in middle of road
• ‘Alarm bells!’ – Van der Poel and Van Aert caught out by huge split in peloton

‘Stupid! Chaos!’ – Fan causes huge crash that brings down entire peloton

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