CYCLIST Remco Evenepoel saw his “life flash before his eyes” after puncturing while leading the men’s Olympic road race with less than FOUR KILOMETRES remaining.
The Belgian, 25, won gold in the time trial last weekend and was bidding to achieve an unprecedented feat by becoming the first male rider to win the road race in the same Olympic Games.
Everything seemed to be going perfectly for him as he dropped Frenchman Valentin Madouas to go solo heading into the final stages of the race.
But Evenepoel, who finished third in the Tour de France last month, then suffered a major scare as he closed in on victory.
Holding a lead of more than a minute to Madouas, Evenepoel suddenly put his arm up to signal to his team car 3.8 kilometres from the finish.
It became apparent he had a puncture as he stopped and furiously gestured for a new bike.
Fortunately, a member of the Belgian staff was on hand to swiftly provide him a replacement and he was quickly back on his way.
Yet the moment left the BBC commentators in disbelief as they watched the high drama unfold.
The lead broadcaster said: “Oh, what a moment for Remco Evenepoel. His life must have flashed before his eyes.”
Before 1992 Olympic champion Chris Boardman added: “He should be OK but what a moment of drama in the final.”
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Moments after the incident Evenepoel was seen asking one of the motorbikes the time gap back to Madouas as riders did not have team radios for the race.
But he did not need to worry as he still had a substantial gap and safely clinched victory.
Madouas came home to take silver in front of a roaring home crowd, one minute and 11 seconds adrift of Evenepoel.
And Christophe Laporte made it two Frenchman on the podium as he won the sprint for bronze.
Speaking about his puncture after claiming a second gold in a week, Evenepoel said: “I really feel sick from the effort especially with the stressy moment with 4km to go, I got a straight puncture.
“I had to change bike, bit of stress but I had time enough.”
Earlier in the race, the peloton set off a SPEED CAMERA as they flew along the French roads.
