Mark Cavendish came off his bike towards the end of stage five in the Giro d’Italia, sliding across the line on the tarmac as he tried to right himself. The incident came after his tour rival Remco Evenepoe was one of many to be wiped out after a stray dog ran across the course causing havoc.
Remarkably, Cavendish still finished fifth despite sliding across the finish line off his saddle. The Manx Missile was lucky that the crash happened so just metres away from the finish line with his speed carrying him across the line.
Cavendish lost control of his bike after his back wheel started spinning and he slammed one of his rivals into the trackside hoardings just after the finish line following his slide across the track in the city of Salerno.
Team DSM rider Alberto Dainese was later punished for causing the accident after appearing to cut across Cavendish on the line. The Italian crossed the line in fourth place in the sprint finish but was relegated to the last position in the group he was in for his actions. Cavendish was promoted to fourth as a result.
Cavendish’s incident was not the only one of the day as the weather caused havoc to the on-track action. The conditions had nothing to do with the fall that the 37-year-old’s tour rival Evenepoel suffered however as a stray dog ran onto the track and took him out.
Evenepoel, who was the pre-race favourite, required medical after the bizarre moment but was able to get back on his bike to finish the stage and maintain second place in the event overall. To add insult to injury he fell off his bike again later in the stage.
Fortunately, the dog also appeared to be largely unscathed, running back to the pavement immediately after the incident.
Australian Kaden Groves ended up winning the stage as Norwegian Andreas Leknessund kept hold of the pink jersey following four hours and 30 minutes of riding in the wet.
Italy’s Jonathan Milan finished second ahead of Denmark’s Mads Petersen.
“It’s a dream to win,” said Groves after the race. “Everything was going well but then I crashed at the roundabout with seven kilometres to go. Luckily I put my chain back on fast enough and the group came back together but it wasn’t very clean, we all got lost.
“The guys did a good job earlier and then luckily I was good enough to be in position and had the legs to lead out and win.”
