Cycling: Riders suffer serious injury after shocking crash with pedestrian at Tour of Turkey

A pedestrian caused a scary crash at the Tour of Turkey. Photo / Twitter

Multiple riders were left with serious injuries after a scary crash with a pedestrian at the Tour of Turkey.

Video of the incident emerged on Twitter showing a man walking on the side of the road seemingly unaware of the approaching cyclists before causing a major collision.

The pedestrian, who had his back to the peloton, failed to hear warnings from spectators of the incoming cyclists.

One nearby fan even attempted to pull the man out of the way at the last-second, but multiple riders crashed into both individuals.

French Arkéa-Samsic rider Nacer Bouhanni suffered a fractured vertebra in the crash and was taken to a nearby hospital, while Manuel Peñalver of Burgos-BH broke his elbow and required surgery.

Bouhanni is one of the most recongisable cyclists in the peloton, having won six stages at Grand Tours - three stages of the Vuelta a Espana and three at the Giro d'Italia - while he has also been one of the more outspoken and controversial personalities in the sport over the years.

Mirco Maestri (Eolo-Kometa), whose collision with the pedestrian started the pile up, posted a photo of himself on social media sporting bruises and road rash following the crash.

"Sometimes you just have to get up and push harder than ever ... thinking it doesn't hurt," he wrote alongside the photo.

A volte bisogna solo rialzarsi e spingere più forte che mai...pensando che non fa male💪!!
Grazie a Tutto il Team💙!
Domani è un altro giorno🤐
Comunque botte sotto controllo 🤗
@eolokometacyclingteam #paperino pic.twitter.com/L0xY09PRCc

— Mirco Maestri (@mircomaestri9) April 11, 2022

Fans reacted in shock on social media, with some labelling the crash "horrifying" and "insane", while others criticised the clueless pedestrian.

One even suggested "somebody could have died".

Amazing footage of today's #tur2022 of a random person minding his own business down the road the riders are using. Apparently Peñalver needs surgery.

I don't know what happened to the pedestrian, but these the organization needs to answer for this. Somebody could have died. https://t.co/SBwZAlowyt

— Fan Aertismo (@fanaertismo) April 11, 2022