‘Oh dear!’ – Mathieu van der Poel suffers TWO bike malfunctions as rivals disappear down road at Giro d’Italia

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) was forced to stop after getting a piece of material trapped in his jockey wheel on Stage 10 at the Giro d’Italia – before his chain fell off immediately as he tried to pull away on his replacement bike. The Dutchman pulled to the side of the road with 55km remaining on the run to Jesi on Tuesday, before he battled with a strip of black material looped around his chain. Ad/> Fortunately, he was only stranded for about 30 seconds before a team car pulled alongside with a replacement bike.

Giro d'ItaliaGiro d'Italia Stage 10 as it happened — History made as Girmay outlasts Van der Poel in epic sprint8 HOURS AGO “Well this will be as quick a bike change as possible,” predicted Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary. He was wrong. Van der Poel hopped onto the replacement bike and received a push start from an Alpecin-Fenix staff member, only to find himself in a high gear and struggling to pedal.

Attempting to shift down into a more palatable gear to build speed, his chain then slipped off. “Stuck in a massive gear, he tried to change it really before he had any sort of momentum,” explained Robbie McEwen on Eurosport commentary. “And that’s what can happen when you try to change and you’re not getting that turnover of the cranks, it can go wrong.

Nearly damaged the replacement bike!” With the chain back on, Van der Poel belatedly set off in pursuit of his rivals having leaked over a minute. The 27-year-old duly set about sweeping through the team cars, even managing to grab an ice pack at full speed from an outstretched arm through a window. “What a cool customer and a great ambassador for the sport,” added Hatch.