A cycling spectator was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons after Liège-Bastogme-Liège Femmes, as a male 'fan' joined the race 31km from the finish and briefly rode behind Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck), before being marshalled off the route by an in-race motorbike driver.
The man, who was wearing a UAE Team Emirates jersey, planned his moment to join the race after the Côte de la Redoute climb, pulling out of a side road and in between Rooijakkers and chaser Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), before his brief but idiotic moment in the spotlight came to an end.
The incident thankfully brought no consequences for the riders, but continued on the theme of "ridiculous" spectators interfering with the professional's mid-race, coming after several incidents with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) this spring.
"This guy is a fan, isn't he? He needs to get off the road. The roads are there for the riders to race on, and you shouldn't be there… Crazy," said commentator Anthony McCrossan, who, alongside co-commentator Hannah Walker, was shocked to see the man join the route.
"This is just ridiculous," said an incensed Walker. "If you're a fan, stay at the roadside, cheer the riders on and just enjoy the spectacle. Enjoy the entertainment, you are not part of it."
Niedermeier and Rooijakkers were undistracted by cycling's equivalent of a football pitch-invasion, continuing on with their move before they were joined by Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) in the move.
Despite the obvious safety concern and general trend of "crazy" spectators continuing, the Dutch rider was still able to laugh about it at the finish.
"Yes, I saw him. I thought it might have been Tadej Pogačar. But no, it wasn't him," laughed Rooijakkers as she spoke to Sporza at the finish.
"No, it was very strange. I don't know what the intention was."
Rooijakkers finished Liège in 13th, as teammate Puck Pieterse continued her incredible Classics campaign, losing out only to Mauritian history-maker Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal).
The men's racing may have been short of much action as Pogačar blasted away solo to his third Liège-Bastogne-Liège title, however, there was similar drama when a motorist pulled out ahead of the breakaway as they rode through Vielsalm.
In-race motorbikes again did their job, ensuring the vehicle had pulled over quickly, before the 12-man break reached them, with the massive charging peloton thankfully more than two minutes further down the road.
As was the case with the fan joining the women's race, no damage or crashes came about after the fact, however, these incidents being able to happen prove that there is still work to be done when it comes to safety.
Van der Poel was spat at during E3 and had a bottle thrown at his face during Paris-Roubaix, both of which led to legal action in Belgium, after already having several incidents with spectators throughout his career.
A similar incident with cars getting onto the race course happened at Etoile de Bessèges back in February, leading to Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) getting injured in a crash.
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