Tour de France competitor Owain Doull was the latest victim of the iconic event’s renowned misfortune as he ran over a stray bidon which sent him crashing to the ground on Stage 15.
The EF Education-EasyPost cyclist crashed after riding over a luminous yellow bottle, which appeared to belong to the Intermarche Wanty Gobert team due to the yellow colouring of the bottle. Doull had been enjoying a quick snack to re-energise at the back of the bunch before the incident occurred.
The 29-year-old admirably returned to his bike but ultimately required attention from the medical car while going downhill at 70kph. The Eurosport commentary team were gutted for the Welshman after he suffered from ‘rotten luck’.
“Oh no, no, no, no no no no” exclaimed Rob Hatch on commentary. “Crash and the rider down is Owain Doull.”
“He's ridden over a bidon," added Robbie McEwen. “And it's one of the Intermarche Wanty bidon's because they're riding with the yellow ones, aren't they?”
“That fluorescent yellow bidon,” Hatch responded. “Ridden over by the Welsh rider who already had rotten luck at the Giro d'Italia having to go home through sickness.
“Back on his bike, thankfully, but that would have come as a nasty shock.”
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McEwen went on to outline how the bottle became so dangerous within the context of a racing situation. He said: “With the bidons, the way they are constructed with the screw top lids, it’s not like the old ones that used to have that pop-on lid, if you ran over it, they would just burst open and go flat.
“Now with the screw ons obviously see a lot better and the bidons are better to drink out of, but the problem is if the nib is shut, they don’t pop open, they don’t go flat. It’s like hitting a brick in the middle of the road”.
It wasn’t the only incident in a dramatic Stage 15. On the same day Tour de France leader Jonas Vingegaard lost teammate Primož Roglič to injuries from previous crashes, Jumbo-Visma member Steven Kruijswijk crashed and suffered a horrific shoulder injury.
The Dutchman fell along with Team DSM's Martin Tusveld and was taken off the course with a suspected fractured collarbone. He has since been ruled out of the rest of the Tour.
