Biniam Girmay made history by winning a stage at the Giro d'Italia – and then being forced to withdraw after an eye-popping celebration.
The Eritrean rider's joy at becoming the first black African to win a stage of a Grand Tour in Jesi on Tuesday was sadly short-lived when he was struck in the eye by the cork from a Prosecco bottle during celebrations on the podium.
Girmay, 22, spent three hours in hospital receiving treatment for his unique sporting injury before he was well enough to join up with his Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materieaux team-mates for dinner at their hotel later in the evening.
But the damage to his eye was so severe that he was unable to continue racing, and he confirmed his withdrawal from the Giro before the start of stage 11. Birmay spoke about his mixed feelings after his Grand Tour debut was cut short in a video posted by his team, saying: "Yesterday when I arrived (at the hotel) after the hospital, the bad moment, I enjoyed it a bit with my team-mates, the staff, everybody.
"I am happy now - I was a bit sad about what happened with the champagne, but when I came back they were super happy. But today unluckily I didn't start the race because still, my eye, I need some rest to give more power to the eye. I'm just looking forward to the rest of the season. Thank you to everybody who supported me and pushed me. I'm OK now. See you soon."
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Piet Daneels, Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert team doctor, acknowledged medical examinations had shown a hemorrhage in Girmay's left eye and the decision to pull out had been taken in order to "minimize the risk" of its expansion. Girmay beat Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel in an exciting sprint for the line in Jesi which he said was an "unbelievable" win immediately after finishing the stage, but he was unable to speak at a post-race news conference because he was en roure to hospital.
Girmay had been denied victory by Van der Poel in the opening stage of the Giro also became the first black African to win a World Tour race when he triumphed in March's Gent-Wevelgem classic in Belgium.
