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Bizarre moment two Tour de France riders have simultaneous collisions with motorbikes

Watch: Bizarre moment two Tour de France riders are knocked off their bikes simultaneously by motorbikes

This is the bizarre moment two Tour de France riders crash into motorbikes at almost exactly the same time.

The collisions happened on stage 18 of the Tour on Thursday, with Jack Bauer and Nils Eekhoff victims of the unfortunate sequence.

New Zealander Bauer was riding at speed downhill when a press motorbike and Team UAE car both slowed down. Bauer tried to get through a small gap in between the two vehicles, but the bike left no room as the car continued to slow down.

It resulted in Bauer crashing into the back of the car, sending him to the floor and his bike flying.

An incensed Bauer got up and screamed “f***ing hell” at the bike, before stomping around in anger. An ITV commentator asked: “That press motorbike… what was it doing?”

Extraordinarily, at almost the exact same time as this crash, another rider, Nils Eekhoff, of the Netherlands, crashed into a separate bike about 10 metres ahead and was also sent to the ground.

The moment Jack Bauer and Nils Eekhoff, circled, crashed at the same time. (@itvcycling/Twitter)
The moment Jack Bauer and Nils Eekhoff, circled, crashed at the same time. (@itvcycling/Twitter)
HAUTACAM, FRANCE - JULY 21: Jack Bauer of New Zealand and Team BikeExchange - Jayco (injured after being involved in a crash with a motorbike) reacts after the 109th Tour de France 2022, Stage 18 a 143,2km stage from Lourdes to Hautacam 1520m / #TDF2022 / #WorldTour / on July 21, 2022 in Hautacam, France. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Jack Bauer following stage 18 of the Tour de France, in which he collided with a motorbike. (Getty Images)
Netherlands' Nils Eekhoff gets medical assistance after crashing during the eighteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 143.5 kilometers (89.2 miles) with start in Lourdes and finish in Hautacam, France, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Nils Eekhoff gets medical assistance after crashing during the 18th stage of the Tour de France. (AP)

Bauer and Eekhoff escaped relatively unharmed, however, and were able to continue. They both required minor treatment to their elbows.

Reflecting on the incident in an interview with Cycling Weekly, Bauer, who also crashed two days prior, said: “When someone parks their car or parks their motorbike right in front of you, and you’re doing 60kph coming downhill, you prefer that they didn’t do that."

Bauer, who said similar pinch point situations "normally work out well", conceded: "Maybe a more experienced person would have backed out. You are always right on the limit of being on or off the bike.

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"I’m not pleased with being on the ground twice in four days but apparently that’s the Tour de France for me."

Bauer was 121st in the rankings after stage 18, with Eekhoff 120th.

On Friday, the Tour was at stage 19, with the competition set to conclude on Sunday, at its 21st stage, in the centre of Paris.