A pro-cycling team has apologised after a support car following the Tour de Yorkshire narrowly avoided a marshal as it crashed into street bollards.
The Team Astana car wiped out street furniture as the race neared its end in Leeds on Sunday.
Video footage showed how the volunteer, who was wearing a hi-vis vest and waving a small yellow flag, ran from the small traffic island a moment before it was demolished by the Skoda – which had bikes on the roof and was in the team livery.
We’re deeply sorry about the incident with our team car. The sport director that was driving the car contacted the race organizer directly after the race to send our apologies. We’re trying to get in touch with the marshal as well. We’re sorry and want this to never happen again.
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) May 7, 2018
Astana’s sport director, Lars Michaelsen, said: “First of all I want to apologise for the collision I had with the street furniture, riding in the first team car. We also apologised to race organiser ASO and the involved marshal.”
The marshal was reported to be unhurt.
The incident happened on the fourth day of the Tour de Yorkshire which saw 900,000 people line the route between Halifax and Leeds.
This year’s event has been described as the biggest yet with 2.6 million people turning out to watch the race over the four days in glorious sunshine, according to organisers.
Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive Sir Gary Verity said: “Once again, they were utterly unbelievable and it was like being back at the 2014 Tour de France.
“Every start and finish was absolutely rammed and there were so many high points along the route that I’ll need to take a few days to let it all sink in.”