Female spectator violently smashed to ground by cyclist sprinting to finish race
This is the heart stopping moment a spectator is smashed to the ground after walking in front of a cyclist nearing the finish line of an event in Spain.
The woman was assisted at the scene before being airlifted to hospital where her condition was described as “very serious.”
The unnamed male competitor was also hospitalised with head injuries.
Shocking footage taken from the finish line at Saturday’s event – called the Salmor Bike in the Canary Island of El Hierro – showed the woman crossing the road with a mobile phone in her left hand as the cyclist was almost level with her.
Seconds earlier another man had been filmed sauntering across the same spot between two lines of spectators carrying a mobile phone.
Onlookers could be overheard screaming as the brutal impact occurred.
The force of the collision sparked initial fears for the lives of the injured pair.
It later emerged the unnamed woman had been airlifted to Tenerife because of the seriousness of her injuries. Sources at the island’s La Candelaria Hospital say she remains “very serious.”
The horror incident happened around 2.45pm on Saturday.
Local media flagged up a lack of barriers in some sections of the final part of the course which would have prevented spectators from crossing in front of the competitors.
The organiser of the event, suspended last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, has been identified as Frontera Town Hall.
There has been no official comment so far from the local council, which tweeted footage of the start of the event but nothing showing the end of the ride, in which 270 cyclists including 100 from the island of El Hierro took part.
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency services coordination centre confirmed: “An injured cyclist in El Hierro has been taken to hospital following a collision with another person.
“We received a call around 2.45pm on Saturday and alerted Civil Guard and the local ambulance service as well as a doctor and nurse from a nearby health centre.
“The information we received was that the cyclist had run over another person during a sporting event.
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“The cyclist was taken to a hospital called Nuestra Señora de Los Reyes and appeared from a first evaluation to be suffering from head injuries.
“The woman who had been knocked over was treated at the scene by medical services covering the event.
“A police investigation into the incident is underway.”
Civil Guard officers have not yet made any official comment.
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A fan responding on social media to images of the collision said: “How is it possible that the organisers of an event like this let members of the public so near to the finish line and put the safety of the cyclists at risk!”
Cycling enthusiast Antonio de Lima added: “In a competition you never cross the road, ever.”
In June a woman was blamed for a massive Tour de France crash after holding out a banner on the first stage of the prestigious event.
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