- When you spend as much time on your bike
as a pro rider does, you do develop a sixth sense
when something's just going a little bit pear shaped.
Crashing, unfortunately, is part of cycling.
But every now and again, we get those brilliant moments
where we see instinct, skill, reaction speed,
and a million and one other things combined
with a whole lot of luck.
These are some of our most epic saves of the year so far.
(upbeat music)
For our first save, let's cast our minds
way, way, way back to the DVV Trophy
on New Year's Day in Baal.
While everyone else was sleeping off their excess
of seeing in the New year,
some of us were actually working.
We didn't have a huge amount of mud for cycling last winter,
and if you're wondering why Mathieu van der Poel
is such a good bike handler, check out this next clip.
(man gasps)
That was brilliant, and it's kind of the cycling equivalent
of the hokey cokey.
You've done everything right, you're on the sort of form
where everything is a fluid blur,
the team plays everything perfectly,
and you got magic legs.
You attack at exactly the right moment,
the perfect distance from the finish.
It's a dream scenario.
Well, it almost came unstuck for Jakob Fuglsang
in Liege-Bastogne-Liege when this happened.
- [Commentator] Next group on the road,
but it almost came unstuck on the descent
for Jakob Fuglsang.
One of the best saves you're likely to see.
- You want another look?
Check this out.
I remember seeing the commentators jump
about six feet in the air when that happened.
Next up, Kasia Niewiadoma from Canyon-SRAM.
The final stage of this year's Giro Rosa
had a technical run in with a short, sharp climb
that suited Marianne Vos perfectly.
Is there a finish that doesn't suit Marianne Vos perfectly?
Not really.
But after recording three stage victories already,
everyone was looking to prevent her from a taking a fourth,
and Niewiadoma was a potential favorite.
Everyone was looking for that trademark move
from the Amstel Gold winner when this happened.
- [Commentator] Through here they swing right open and in
and they're on to this little cobblestones.
Ooh, beautiful save there, Kasia Niewiadoma.
- Another slow mo this time, I think.
Most of us would be on a liquid diet after that one.
In every Tour de France there is generally one,
if not multiple bare that moments under the sense.
You could spend hours recounting them.
For some riders, the afternoon aroma
of a saucy on the barbecue, some wine,
and a freshly baked baguette
are just too much for the senses to deal with.
We gest of course, but cue CCC's Alessandro De Marchi
having his own pull the rip cord moment
on Stage Eight of this year's Tour de France.
- [Commentator] Both of them nearly coming to grief
on this corner.
De Marchi just laying it down there
in a very controlled fashion.
- And that was really similar to one of Tommy Voecklers
on one of his epic breakaways back in the day.
Not to be outdone by his teammate in Liege-Bastogne-Liege,
Ion Izaguirre decided that he'd spend
the rest of the afternoon having a cup of tea
and watching the race on T.V.
He totally just had one of those,
nope, this corner is not happening moments.
- [Commentator] Behind though, Ion Izaguirre bailed out
on one of the tight left handers.
- There was a lot of pride at stake for the sprinters
on Stage Two of the Arctic Race in Norway.
Mathieu van der Poel were taking a long sprint victory
the previous day.
And he even said in the Dutch media
that he didn't understand why some sprinters waited so long
to make their move.
Talk about fighting talk.
So runner up on the opening day,
Jumbo-Visma's Danny van Poppel,
was being brought through for a crack out the finish.
There's only so much road, and unfortunately,
Danny ran out of it.
- [Commentator] As the sprinters jostened for position,
Jumbo-Visma's Danny van Poppel was bounced off the road
and down the bank.
- So many times you see riders
just tumble down the side of the road,
after a bump like that.
I know, great reactions.
Now for one of the most recent,
Mitchelton-Scott's Mikel Nieve,
Stage Two of this year's Vuelta in Calpe.
Yes, it was one of those days where the script was torn up
and set fire to.
Nairo Quintana was up the road heading for a stage win,
there was a bit of a chicane coming into the finish,
and Nieve had a triple whammy of saves.
- [Commentator] Reaching for the rest,
he soon had daylight between himself and the rest.
- Angel Madrazo is without,
one of the most loved riders within the Peloton.
His doppelganger, Kristof Mintz,
plus a character in the movie Superbad,
has led to a career long nickname of McLovin'.
We're in the King of the Mountains Jersey
in this year's Vuelta,
he made it into the Stage Five breakaway
that eventually went all the way to the finish
and in the process netted him
the biggest victory of his career.
But the fact that his sports director in the car
also tried his best to present you
with a big dose of adversity to come back from,
you could've been forgiven for thinking it wasn't his day.
- [Commentator] Yeah, let's just watch the green light.
Oh, the car.
Madrazo has been collided by his own team car.
- Well that's one way to get your riders attention anyway.
Beeping the horn is normally quite a good way
to do it as well.
One noticeable one that we can show you,
is Egan Bernal at the final stage time trial
of the Tour de Suisse.
Having come back from a broken collarbone
at this year's Giro,
he gave his team management a heart attack
on some very twisty, narrow roads.
Luckily he stayed up right,
and the rest as they say, is history.
Thank you for watching.
If you remember any from the season
that we've managed to miss,
then feel free to leave them in the comment section below.
How about you check out the GCN shop before you go?
And if you want to find out if Sy can still cut it
when he's got a number on,
check out this video just down there.