Most SHOCKING Cycling FAILS Caught on Camera │ Short Documentary

This short documentary revisits some of the most costly mistakes ever made in the history of professional cycling. From Steven Kruijswijk’s crash at the 2016 Giro d’Italia, to Mathieu van der Poel’s Tokyo Olympics mountain bike fall, and including several notable cases of premature celebrations. Enjoy the video.

Writing & Editing:
Hamza Boutasmit

Voice Over:
Christopher Harvey

Music:
EpidemicSound

Video Summary:

Even the world’s best cyclists can make catastrophic mistakes, reminding us that at the highest level, the line between triumph and disaster is razor-thin.

In 2016, underrated Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk shocked everyone by taking the lead at the Giro d’Italia, one of the toughest bike races in the world. Steven wore the pink jersey with a solid advantage over favourites like Vincenzo Nibali. Going into Stage 19, Kruijswijk led by three minutes and seemed on the brink of making history as the first Dutch Giro winner. On a treacherous Alpine stage with a dangerous descent from Col Agnel, Kruijswijk tried to follow Nibali’s high-speed downhill attack but misjudged a corner. He crashed into a snowbank and flipped over his handlebars. Though not seriously injured, he fractured a rib and damaged his bike, losing precious minutes while rivals pushed ahead. Kruijswijk’s strong position evaporated, and he ultimately fell to fourth place overall. His crash became a symbol of how quickly fortunes can change in cycling. Vincenzo Nibali benefited the most on this day and made one of the biggest cycling comebacks.

Mathieu van der Poel, known for his incredible versatility across road, cyclo-cross, and mountain biking, targeted the Tokyo 2020 Olympic mountain bike race as his big goal. He even left the Tour de France early to focus on Olympic preparations.
During pre-race training, the “Sakura Drop” section featured a wooden ramp, allowing riders to roll off safely. However, this ramp was removed on race day to increase difficulty, a detail Van der Poel somehow missed despite teammates mentioning it. In the race, he approached the drop expecting the ramp, failed to lift his front wheel, and flew over the bars onto rocks. Though he remounted and continued briefly, injuries and back pain forced him to abandon. The crash aggravated a pre-existing back issue, affecting his form for months.
Ultimately, Van der Poel overcame the setback and returned to dominate major races again, but the incident remains an example of how the best cyclists can make amateur mistakes.

Other cycling blunders don’t involve crash moments but self-sabotage in the form of premature celebrations.

Julian Alaphilippe, during the 2020 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, veered across the road to block rivals (Tadej Pogačar and Marc Hirschi) in the sprint and raised his arms too early, allowing Primoz Roglic to pass him at the last moment. He was further penalised for dangerous sprinting and dropped to fifth place. The Frenchman couldn’t beat the habit of premature celebrating. In another race days later, he nearly repeated the mistake but narrowly won. Eric Zabel, at the 2004 Milan-Sanremo, celebrated too early with arms wide open. Oscar Freire threw his bike at the line and stole the win by inches, leaving Zabel in disbelief and forever associated with this iconic blunder.

As we’re heading to the Tour de France 2025, these stories are a reminder that even the top elites can slip up and be humbled by poor judgment, miscommunication, or a moment of overconfidence. From devastating crashes to ill-timed celebrations, these mistakes remind us that in cycling, victory is never certain until the very last meter.

#tdf2025 #cycling #mountainbiking #mtb #tourdefrance #mvdp #vanderpoel #pogacar #crash

professional cyclists are held to the highest 
standards of excellence they’re the fastest the sharpest the most composed but even the top 
elite can slip up no one is immune to error oh that was pretty bad
there’s one lap to go my friend in this video we will be taking a 
look at some of the most costly mistakes ever made in the history of cycling starting 
with Steven Kruijswijk’s crash at the 2016 Giro Kruijswijk entered the 2016 Tour of Italy 
far from the spotlight the Dutch climber had never won a major race his best grand tour 
finish was seventh place few if any picked him as a potential winner of the race instead all 
eyes were on Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali a former Giro and Tour do France winner he was the 
man to beat now he goes Vincenzo Nibali I sense that something was imminent and straight 
away Steven Kruijswijk is the first to react but as the 3-week Grand Tour 
progressed the script began to flip Steven Kruijswijk launches a huge attack
Kruijswijk proved surprisingly strong in the mountains riding with a calm determination by 
the decisive third week he had shocked everybody by seizing the leader jersey from the favorites
100 meters to go and he’s still got 10 seconds Kruijswijk sprinting for the line 
Kruijswijk has obliterated the opposition in the general classification
meanwhile Nibali had struggled through the mid-mount stages Vincenzo Nibali 
has got a mechanical now his chain has slipped he’s just looking down at the 
neck he throws his bike away in disgust even cracking and losing time on stages 14 and 16
there goes the Maglia Rosa himself Steven Kruijswijk now Nibali cracked too Nibali 
showing real signs of weakness on this climb after stage 18 Kruijswijk led second place 
Esteban Chaves by a full 3 minutes with Nibali completely out of the podium at 4 minutes and 43 
seconds with just a few days remaining a historic triumph was within reach all he had to do was 
stay out of trouble in the Astana team bus plans were brewing for a last-ditch comeback with two 
decisive mountain stages left Nibali and his team knew they had to go all-in to dethrone Kruijswijk 
[Music] the profile for stage 19 was intimidating after a rolling start the Peloton would scale the 
colossal Cole Agnel climb in the Alps the highest point of that year’s race then they would tackle 
a 20 km descent off its French side and as if that wasn’t enough immediately after the descent the 
riders would face another formidable climb the stage was quite literally set for an epic showdown
today is the Cima Coppi Pinerolo to Risoul all the way over to France 162 km the highest point of the 
Giro d’Italia this climb all the way up to almost 2,800 m this is a mythical mountain the race was 
aggressive right from the gun the pace was brutal yet a few riders that didn’t pose a threat to the 
general standing still managed to break away among them was Nibali’s loyal teammate Michele Scarponi 
who would go on to play a key role later that day 28 riders got away and there are some big 
tactical moves that have been played by Astana by the foot of the Agnel climb Kruijswijk’s 
teammates had done their work and began to drop off one by one shortly after only the 
strongest remained next to the race leader no teammates left for Steven Kruijswijk here 
we go change at the front of the peloton Chaves made a few attacks but Kruijswijk was 
able to match him showing no weakness despite the altitude in the meantime Chaves is putting 
in another dig on the 11.6% gradient oh Valverde is cracking Alejandro Valverde is cracking these 
accelerations exposed Valverde who was in third place overall and he began to lose contact sensing 
an opportunity Nibali moved to the front he was determined to ride himself back into the podium
Nibali now goes to the front and puts his own turn in so the first signs that Nibali is 
starting to feel good he’s close to the top his favorite terrain of descending coming up still 
no worries for Kruijswijk who seems to be emitting a sensation of complete control most riders tend 
to have at least a day off in a 3-week race but Kruijswijk zipped up his jacket at the summit and 
prepared to follow the world’s fastest descender however only minutes into the descent the most 
shocking moment of the 2016 Tour of Italy happened [Music] that was nasty
well there we go Kruijswijk is down what’s the problem with his bike now certainly 
the mechanic is straight out this is a huge moment for the Giro d’Italia the seconds are ticking 
over it’s slipping away from Steven Kruijswijk as Nibali aggressively dived into one of 
the first tight hairpin bends Kruijswijk’s tried to follow but he misjudged the corner and 
carried too much speed his bike drifted wide on the asphalt and with barely an instant to react 
he slammed into the bank of snow and was launched over his handlebars in an image now seared into 
cycling history Kruijswijk rose shakily to his feet his pink kit stained with the white of 
the snow drift his bike was a wreck its frame and handlebars battered from the impact the snow 
had cushioned his fall enough to spare him from serious injury but the damage was still severe
and once again he has to stop and they sweep past him on the road his bike was unridable 
his confidence shattered and the pain was already surging through his body from what 
would later be diagnosed as a fractured rib he’s back on his bike is his bike in working 
order and how’s his legs and how is his head more importantly and how much time has he lost
by the time he received a replacement bike his rivals were far down the mountain Nibali here 
in the white Gilet behind him is Esteban Chaves the race situation had flipped upside down 
moments earlier Kruijswijk had been in control now Nibali and Chaves were up the road together 
forging an alliance of convenience and if there was one weakness with Steven Kruijswijk we said 
it the other day going down the hill he didn’t look quite as confident as the other riders 
on the valley roads leading to the final climb Nibali linked up with Scarponi who had waited 
after the descent to help tow him further ahead Michele Scarponi who was leading the stage has 
now been held up for Vincenzo Nibali Chaves likewise was fortunate to have a teammate drop 
back from the break to pace him on the other hand Kruijswijk had no teammates nearby to help 
he was digging very deep to limit the damage way to get the next time check there we go 4:28 
oh dear oh dear Chaves started the day 3 minutes behind is almost 2 minutes ahead
Nibali and Chaves held roughly 2 minutes over the race leader as the 
road tilted up that gap only grew Steven Kruijswijk isolated on the 
Colle dell’Agnello but then crashing on the descent he’s 2 minutes and nine behind
the Dutchman’s body was battered riding injured and alone up a mountain is a near impossible 
task against two fresh rivals working together he’s 20 seconds away from going out of the 
pink jersey on the road and here comes Nibali then there is the chat Nibali puts in a dig
on the climb Nibali smelt blood and went on the attack with about 9 kilometers from the finish
Scarponi done for the day Chaves to go with him and they’re going to take Mikel 
Nieve who could be a very useful here with 5.5 km remaining Chaves became the 
virtual race leader Steven Kruijswijk had lost so much time that he was slipping behind the 
Colombian on the overall classification Steven Kruijswijk who has fallen 3 minutes 4 seconds 
behind Esteban Chaves is the virtual leader up ahead Nibali was relentless
and Nibali’s gone again Nibali has attacked again another attack with 5 km 
left finally shook off Chaves the Italian champion flew into a solo 
lead driven by the knowledge that he was overturning the entire Grand Tour in one sweep
here is Vincenzo Nibali the shark of Messina’s found his bite again he’s done it he’s 
pulled off a wonderful piece of work it’s Nibali who does it Nibali number one 
in Risoul and he’s right back in the race he crossed the finish line 
in tears punching the air overcome with emotion very emotional
overcome with emotion Vincenzo Nibali the favorite rising from the ashes of defeat 
the underdog hero falling from grace all unfolding on a single mountain side
and that’s it he’s out of the pink jersey Esteban Chaves is the new leader of the Giro 
d’Italia Kruijswijk continued to fight bravely but the clock was unmerciful 4 minutes and 54 seconds 
after Nibali’s arrival a weary and disheartened Steven Kruijswijk struggled across the line
such drama such emotion and the cruelty of sport Steven Kruijswijk crosses the line 
4:54 down and the dream might just have died he knew what the numbers meant his 3 minutes 
lead had turned into a one-minute deficit in the overall standings he had slipped not just 
to second but to third overall the pink jersey was unzipped from his shoulders and handed to 
a new owner all the hard work of three weeks the daring attacks the suffering in the climbs 
and the steadfast defense of the pink jersey all vanished in one single miscalculation despite 
courageously continuing Steven would lose more time on stage 20 and ultimately finish the 2016 
Giro in fourth place overall off the podium it was a grim end to what had been a fairy tale in 
the making this crash was a painful reminder of how quickly fortune can change in cycling it was 
a display of how razor thin the line between glory and heartbreak is in elite sport 5 years later 
Mathieu van der Poel another Dutchman carrying the hopes of a nation faced a similar fate Van der 
Poel is one of the most versatile cyclists ever with a unique ability to dominate in cyclacross 
mountain biking and road racing by 2021 he had already claimed four world champion titles in 
Cyclocross but these feats didn’t satisfy his appetite he wanted more an Olympic gold medal 
but there was a problem the Olympic Games didn’t feature a Cycloross event and when they revealed 
the cause for the Tokyo Olympic road race in 2018 Van der Poel knew it wasn’t his race the Olympic 
Mountain bike race made the most sense for 3 years that event had been marked on his calendar as one 
of his biggest career goals he adjusted his entire racing schedule to prepare for it integrating 
select World Cup races into his program to gain experience on the dirt all while continuing 
to rack up wins in Cyclocross and on the road in July 2021 he made the difficult decision to 
withdraw from the tour to France in order to fully focus on final preparations for Tokyo 
this is how badly he wanted that gold medal the much anticipated event was held on July 
the 26th expectations were skyhigh years of preparation would boil down to a single 
90-minute race the green light goes away they go for the start as the start gun fired 
Van der Poel sprinted off the line among a pack of 38 worldclass riders the Olympic course 
revolved around a 4 kilometer circuit of man-made rocky terrain with steep climbs and drop offs 
including a very technical section known as the “Sakura” Drop spectators watched anxiously as 
riders approached this drop for the first time Van der Poel looked composed and aggressive but 9 
minutes into the race disaster struck [Applause] oh faller and that’s a key 
faller that is Van der Poel coming into the “Sakura” drop everybody 
popped their front wheel up to jump off the ledge except for Van der Poel who took it 
in a completely different manner he stayed low and rode off it with his front wheel planted 
the result was catastrophic his bike pitched forward violently and he flew over the handlebars 
crashing hard onto the rocky ground the viewers could hardly believe what they saw how could 
a cyclist of his caliber make such an amateur mistake multiple riders zipped past him while 
he laid momentarily stunned his face showed a mix of confusion and agony nevertheless the 
fiercely determined Dutchman wasn’t ready to quit just yet he grabbed his bike got back 
in the saddle and resumed riding after losing roughly a minute to the leaders he was hurt 
but adrenaline and ambition pushed him forward however each time the camera caught 
a glimpse of him it was evident that something was wrong he was unable to produce 
his usual power on the climbs he had gone from potential gold medalist to simply hoping 
to finish on the penultimate lap Mathieu pulled off the course and abandoned 
the race his Olympic dream was over in the aftermath of the crash a baffling question 
hung in the air what exactly caused Matthew Van der Poel to misjudge this drop so badly during 
the recon sessions in the days before the race the “Sakura” drop had been equipped with a 
wooden ramp that extended down the face of the rock drop this ramp allowed riders to roll 
off the obstacle rather than taking a blind leap Van der Poel and many others practiced the drop 
using the ramp in place finding it manageable however that ramp was removed for the official 
event to make the race more challenging everybody adjusted their technique on race day except 
for Mathieu he hit the section expecting the ramp to be there to catch his front wheel but 
instead he rode into thin air but how did such a critical piece of information fail to reach him 
interestingly enough his own teammate Milan Vader later revealed that he had discussed the ramp’s 
removal with Mathieu during lunch it seems that Van der Poel had either misunderstood or simply 
never got official confirmation that the ramp would indeed be removed for the Olympic 
final he landed mainly on his right side his hip and lower back absorbed much of the 
force the X-ray scans revealed that despite the heavy fall he hadn’t broken any bones a huge 
relief to his team and supporters but while his hip would heal with rest and therapy it was 
his back that would become the bigger issue in December he returned to Cyclocross but 
recurring back pain forced him to end his winter campaign after only a couple of races his 
father urged him to scale back and prioritize recovery Mathieu humbled by the experience 
took this advice to heart by April 2022 he had made a triumphant return to form on the road
Van der Poel up through the middle Van der Poel up through the middle still there Mathieu 
Van der Poel wins the Ronde Van Vlaanderen today four years after the crash Van der Poel has 
ascended to legendary status in cycling at the age of 30 he has amassed seven Cyclocross world titles 
and eight classic monuments not to mention the world title on the road making him one of the most 
successful classics riders ever bike crashes are brutal one second you’re leading the race the next 
you’re hitting the ground but not every downfall is the result of a crash sometimes riders sabotage 
themselves by making the most rookie mistakes John Moldy celebrating the Frenchman what’s he 
doing oh it’s far too early celebrate too early and you risk not only losing the race but also 
becoming a meme on social media it’s one of the most embarrassing mistakes and unfortunately 
for these athletes it’s all caught on camera in his first race in the world champions jersey 
Julian Alaphilippe was on his way to victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege a race he had always dreamed 
of winning in the final sprint Julian had three riders on his wheel he aggressively veered off his 
lane to block two of them almost causing a crash then raised his arms in the air in celebration 
completely forgetting about the remaining rider it’s Alaphilippe in that moment of euphoria 
Julian noticed out of the corner of his eye the front wheel of Primoz Roglic edging past 
him and it was too late to correct his mistake and Roglic the hands went up a little bit 
too early Primoz Roglic is your winner analysts and media outlets criticized him 
calling the incident a show of arrogance and even a form of non-verbal bullying and 
after reviewing the race footage the jury relegated him from second to fifth place as 
punishment for his dangerous swerves during the sprint the Frenchman promised never to 
make the same mistake again 3 days later at the very next race Alaphilippe was contesting 
the finish once more he played it safe this time and was sure he had it so he went for 
the celebration now Alaphilippe hits the front Van der Poel down the middle Alaphilippe 
though well did he celebrate too early again Mathieu Van der Poel with a last-second 
bike throw almost snatched the win from him he almost thought “I think 
he’d lost it again there” yet again he couldn’t resist the urge to showboat 
lucky for Julian he’s not the first rider to make such an embarrassing blunder the most notorious 
case of premature celebration is that of German rider Erik Zabel at the 2004 Milan Sanremo the 
300-km race boiled down to a sprint a perfect scenario for the German sprinter with his 
confidence through the roof Erik surged out of the bunch and overtook everyone in his way 
a few meters before the line Zabel believed the race was his he raised up and stretched his arms 
wide in triumph while freewheing the remaining meters but in that very same heartbeat 
something else was happening at his side Oscar Freire threw his bike toward the 
line with a final desperate thrust the Spaniard timed his sprint perfectly coming 
off Zabel’s slipstream with a late slingshot acceleration and stretching his wheel as 
far as possible in a classic bike throw at the finish line in the blink of an eye the 
triumph turned to horror Freire’s front wheel inched ahead of Zabel stealing the victory by 
the smallest of margins over the years other unfortunate riders have discovered more ways 
to embarrass themselves on live television oh no
he thinks he’s won no it’s one lap to go it’s one lap of racing to go
no he hasn’t heard it and he thinks he’s won the world title
on stage seven of the 2014 Tour of California Spanish rider Eloy Teruel surged 
away from the peloton on the penultimate lap quickly opening up a gap he couldn’t believe how 
successful his attack was it looked like he was finally going to get his first professional win
is one lap to go my friend oh no that is a shame for a brief moment Teruel was completely 
disconnected from the world the deafening sound of both the announcer and the ringing 
bell couldn’t snap him out of his daydream “One to go! One to go! One to go! One lap 
of racing remaining! One to go! One to go!” but after a few seconds he became a little 
confused as to why everyone else was still riding towards him at high speed after he 
had just supposedly won the race finally the realization came when none of his team staff came 
to celebrate with him he finished 56th but took it in good spirits saying “Thank goodness no one 
saw it.” All of these cases were embarrassing but the following cyclist raised the bar even higher 
arguably the most awkward race end incident in modern cycling took place during the opening 
stage of the 2022 tour of Greece when Eduard Prades sprinted in front of the Peloton in an 
attempt to win the stage uh this looks like Prades of the Caja Rural squad oh and Prades 
hits the deck in a moment of celebration as he hit the finish line he tried to perform a classic 
two-handed victory salute in that moment his bike suddenly gave way beneath him his saddle fell off 
and with no hands on the handlebars the Spaniard toppled violently backwards landing hard on his 
backside for some reason the saddle had worked loose at the finish precisely when he shifted his 
weight to celebrate mechanical failures like this are rare but not unheard of in cycling especially 
at the end of races they can result from equipment fatigue or poor maintenance this particular stage 
featured cobblestone sections which can stress bike components beyond their tolerance fortunately 
Eduard escaped without serious injury and he was probably thinking “At least I’ve won the race.” 
But there was another twist to this story the last man surviving from the four 
rider group up front Aaron Gate gets his hands in the air Prades believed 
he was sprinting for victory little did he know the actual race winner had 
crossed the line a minute before him when the Peloton caught the breakaway on 
the final climb he was unaware that one rider still remained ahead adding an extra layer 
of embarrassment to his ill- fated celebration.