Scary moment Team GB cyclist crashes into car during Olympic road race
In a nail-biting moment, a Team GB cyclist collided with a service car during a road race final at the Paris Olympics.
Sunday (4 August) saw the women's road race final take place, with American cyclist Kristen Faulkner securing gold in just under four hours.
However, it was a less than successful outing for Team GB's Anna Henderson, whose race was derailed after she collided with a neutral service car during the latter part of the route.
Footage taken from the incident and shared across social media shows Henderson colliding with a blue service car as she turned a corner in the Montmartre region of Paris.
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The car turns the corner just before the Olympian before swerving into her just moments after. Thankfully the 25-year-old didn't appear to be injured as she quickly cycled off after the incident and finished the race in 13th place.
In a post shared on X, Mathew Mitchell explained that the car had swerved to the right and into Henderson's path, after it had slowed down to assist another rider.
"Turns out Anna Henderson had a coming together with a Shimano neutral service car during the latter part of the race," he wrote alongside the clip, which originally came from Reddit.
"The car swerves right to service a stopped Polish rider as Anna is sending it up the inside."
Viewers were shocked by the clip, with many sharing their disbelief over the situation in the comments.
"My wife and I were discussing this a couple days ago watching the men’s race, about how ridiculously dangerous it seemed to have all those cars and motorcycles ripping around next to cyclists in crazy confined spaces," one person wrote, while another questioned the driver's decision to stop directly in her path.
"I just don't get what that car driver was thinking, they took a wide turn cause they knew the rider was there, to just whip back to the inner side after to hit her," a second added.
Fortunately the road race debacle didn't put an end to Henderson's Olympic dreams, as the cyclist was able to bag a silver medal in the women's individual time trial on 27 July.
Following the win, Henderson revealed she 'couldn't believe' that she'd finished in second place.
"I can't believe it," she said in an interview afterwards.
"I had a small feeling I could make the podium today and squeeze out some of the others rider but I can't believe I've come second behind someone like [gold medallist Grace Brown].
"I burst into tears when I found out I was second. I just can't stop smiling."
Brenna Cooper