A double embarrassment! Spanish cyclist Eduard Prades CRASHES while celebrating at finish line of the first stage of Greece’s Tour of Hellas… before finding out he wasn’t even the winner!
- Eduard Prades was leading the peloton as he raced towards the finish line
- The Spaniard raised his arms aloft before his saddle came loose and he crashed
- But Aaron Gate had already won the stage, finishing 1 minute 46 seconds ahead
- Prades admitted afterwards he thought there was no one left in front of him
Spanish cyclist Eduard Prades had a moment to forget on Wednesday as he crashed at the finish line celebrating what he thought was a stage victory – even though he only finished second!
Prades was leading the peloton in Stage One of the Tour of Hellas in Greece when he sprinted for the finish line.
But as he raised his arms aloft in classic style crossing the line, Prades’ saddle unluckily fell off at that precise moment, sending him nastily tumbling backwards.
Eduard Prades had a moment to forget on Wednesday as he crashed at the finish line celebrating what he thought was a stage victory – even though he only finished second
Only later on did Prades learn that, adding to his embarrassment, he had only finished second
However, it was only later on via a team release that the 34-year-old had further cause for embarrassment.
He had learned New Zealander Aaron Gate, riding for Bolton Equities-Black Spoke, was actually the stage winner having broken away from the pack earlier in the race.
Pardes said: ‘Both Trek and we have been attacking for much of the climb and in the end Jon [Barrenetxea] gave me a hand on the descent to catch the breakaway group.
‘We caught them but the truth is that we didn’t have much information and the way the race was going I thought there was no one left in front, that’s why in the end I raised my arms.’
Prades – who rides for Caja Rural-Seguros RGA – admitted he thought he was the winner
Gate ended up winning by one minute and 46 seconds on the hilly 190.1km stage from Heraklion to Chania on the Greek island of Crete.
Nonetheless, Prades – who rides for the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team – still finished second ahead of Filippo Baroncini and Luc Wirtgen.
It isn’t the first time a top cyclist has performed a victory salute in error; world champion Julian Alaphilippe celebrated early in 2020 in Liege and ended up losing in the final sprint to Primoz Roglic.
Julian Alaphilippe celebrated early in 2020 and ended up losing in the sprint to Primoz Roglic