In today’s Men’s U23 Cyclocross World Championships, Adam Toupalik was well clear coming into the finishing straight and celebrated in the closing metres what he thought was the win.
Unfortunately for the Czech rider, there was still a lap to go. Instead, it was Belgium’s Eli Iserbyt who went on to win. Toupalik did manage to hang on for silver with another Belgian, Quinten Hermans taking the bronze medal.
Afterwards, Toupalik described himself on TV as being “the biggest idiot in the world.” It will be of little consolation to the Czech rider that he is far from being the first rider to ever make this mistake, and certainly won’t be the last.
That was not nice to see but he made some effort to get back on and nearly won it.
Craig Nicolson be aware