Remco Evenepoel crashes after dog runs into road in shocking moment at Giro d’Italia on Stage 5

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was sent crashing to the tarmac after a stray dog ran into the peloton’s path on Stage 5 at the Giro d’Italia. It initially appeared the Belgian’s dream of winning a second Grand Tour was over as he sat wounded on the tarmac for over a minute, but he belatedly returned to his feet and re-joined the race. Ad His entire cohort of team-mates, some of whom also hit the deck, surrounded him as they began the slog to get back into the peloton.

Fortunately for Evenepoel and Soudal-QuickStep, it was not a particularly challenging chase due to the torrid conditions. Giro d'Italia'Evenepoel is down!' — Shocking moment dog causes crash at GiroAN HOUR AGO The incident occurred with 152km remaining of the run from Atripalda to Salerno, when a dog suddenly charged towards the peloton from the side of the road. It prompted brakes being slammed on in the bunch, sparking a domino effect that caused a number of riders, including pre-race favourite Evenepoel, to hit the deck.

Evenepoel was later pictured giving a thumbs up to the camera and he soon re-joined the main group after clambering back onto his bike. The team spirit showed by Soudal-Quick Step was impressive in coming to their star man's aid, particularly after their strategy and approach on Stage 4 was questioned on The Breakaway post-race show. «I think a lot of mistakes were made by that team, right from the get-go,» Adam Blythe said.

«You had a lot of riders committing full gas to bring a group of 14 riders back at one point. We were questioning why they were chasing it down because they were no real threat to the GC. »Yet they were adamant about bringing it back and rode hard for at least 10, 15 minutes, then after that, more attacks came