Tour de France rider picks up fan's camera, keeps filming
Professional cyclists are known for their crazy bike handling skills but this takes it to another level…
A fan standing on the roadside filming the Tour de France peleton as it passed had his camera knocked out of his hand by a passing rider - only to have it scooped up by another one, who continued to film (much to the amusement of the rest of the bunch).
Watch below:
The video was posted to YouTube by cycling fan 'Orangesokz', who explained that he had been filming the Tour (holding his helmet cam at arm's length) when an errant elbow from Lotto rider Marcel Sieberg knocked it out of his hand.
As the camera lies in the road - still filming - it's picked up by Team Europecar rider Kévin Reza, who keeps it rolling, even to the extent of filming while in the team bus.
The camera owner later got in touch with Reza via Twitter, and the French rider sent the camera back to him.
"My girlfriend sent Kevin a message via Twitter asking if he still had the helmet," wroter Orangesokz (possibly not his real name).
"He replied and then he posted the helmet back to me! What a legend."
As fun as the video is, commenters have pointed out that if the uploader was close enough to have the camera knocked out of his hand, then he may well have been too close to the peleton for safety.
Indeed, looking back at the footage it's hard not to conclude the the elbow from Siegel may have been deliberate, and the incident comes amid ongoing controversy about how close Tour fans are getting to the riders in their bid for the 'perfect selfie'.
"This is a rider protecting a peloton," wrote commenter Andrew Burnie under the YouTube video.
"Personally really happy to see riders starting to do this to irresponsible spectators. The elbow was deliberate and particularly well delivered."
Whatever the rights and wrongs, one thing is for sure - it was a pretty impressive move from Reza to be able to scoop up the helmet at full tilt.
How the hell did he do that?
