Tour De France Rider Wiped Out After Rival Trainer Whacks Him In Face

A Tour De France cyclist was forced to pause his race after getting smacked in the face by a soigneur with a food bag.

Thibaut Pinot was in the eighth stage of the competition in Lausanne when the incident took place on Saturday (9 July) in a feed zone along the route.

Commentators watched on as Pinot moved to the right of the road towards bystanders lining the streets, when suddenly an soigneur with the Trek-Segafredo cycling team reached out in front of him holding a bag.

A soigneur is someone who offers assistance such as training, massage and in this case food to a team, especially during a race.

Pinot ended up being struck in the face by the bag, with one of the commentators quickly assuring it was 'not Thibaut's fault'.

Another added: "He's caught about five kilo of feedback straight in the face. Luckily most of the stuff in the feed bag is soft."

The cyclist was forced to come off his bike and he put his head into his hands as he was supported by other people at the side of the road.

Pinot initially looked like he was crying as a result of the incident, but it soon emerged that his sunglasses had been smashed into his face after being struck by the bag.

Speaking to velonews after the incident, Pinot said: "I was in the heat of the action and took a fist to my face. It happened right in front of me, I couldn’t avoid it.

"There are no real marks, but I had to chase hard to get back into the bunch. It was really a bad day from start to finish.”

The incident was Pinot's second setback of the day after he previously lost time in a crash which took place when he had about 40 kilometres to go.

Any time he had made up following the crash was likely lost when he was forced off his bike for the second time, but he quickly sought to get back in the race as he was given a push by what appeared to be a member of the Trek team.

The commentator explained: “It is Trek. They will be apologising profusely because that is a no-no - you don’t reach across a rider. No matter how much of an emergency, you don’t reach across a rider.”

The eighth stage of the competition was won by Belgium’s Wout van Aert on Saturday, with cyclists now taking on the ninth stage.